Knowing Through Feeling
by look2thesky7
Summary: The most unlikely person rescues Hermione during a Death Eater ambush in the forest. When she comes to and realizes who it is, will she fight to get away or will the two of them find feelings they didn't realize existed? HGSS. Set during DH.
1. Ambush and Escape

Flashes of green and red lights flew past Hermione's face as she ducked for cover in the darkness, groping around for her fallen wand. Finally, she felt the sleek wood touch her fingertips and having grasped her wand now, flew curses blindly in front of her, hoping to hit at least one Death Eater that had penetrated her protective charms around the campsite.

Harry was nowhere to be seen; she moved backwards slightly, feeling with her free hand, hoping against all hope he had just moved backwards like she'd told him to, but all she felt behind her was air. Cold, cruel air full of hate and confusion as she dodged another curse just in time. With Ron having stormed off at least three weeks ago now, she and Harry had been slightly more defenseless, especially with Harry's wand now broken in two.

"Harry!" She finally yelled into the black of the night. "Harry, get out of here! I'll hold them off!"

"Shut up, you stupid girl," shrieked a Death Eater from somewhere in front of her, more and more lights whizzing past her as they tried to disarm, paralyze, or kill the mudblood.

Hermione backed up still terrified, panting, pleading with herself inside her mind that Harry needed to get away. _It doesn't matter if they get me,_ she thought, wincing at herself. _Harry has to stay alive...please, just get away from here Harry! Please..._

And then, another jet of light came flying out of the darkness. But this one had not come from in front of here like the rest; it had come from behind...

She dared not look behind her, afraid of being caught off guard, but obviously wondered where the curse had come from. Almost instantly after the curse was sent, she heard a heavy thud in front of her, knowing that someone had been hit by the unknown attacker's curse. This of course, in return, had caused quite a few more curses to be thrown in Hermione's direction. Now terrified, she had heavy thoughts of retreat when suddenly something, someone threw themselves at her, pulling her down to the ground, to what she assumed was out of harm's way.

The pain was terrible. Hermione felt the front of her temple hit the rock hard, felt the blood trickle slowly down her face, she wanted to scream but it hurt so badly, nothing came out except a low grunt of pain and unspoken terror. The only other thing she felt was a pair of hands larger than her own begin to scoop her up from the hard forest floor, then it all went black.

* * *

**AN: I know this is extrememly short (it seemed so much longer on the computer, go figure) but the rest of the chapters are much longer, I promise. **

**All reviews are appreciated. :)  
**


	2. With the Enemy?

_Harry...Harry..._her own voice echoed in her mind. "Harry..." she actually muttered this time, but it would have been hardly audible to anyone had they been listening to her. She was fully aware her eyes were closed. For a few racing moments, she knew she was dead, had to be...she felt so peaceful, that was the only explanation.

But just as suddenly as she'd thought his, her eyes flew open where she immediately registered she was not among the dead at all but laying in what seemed to be a very large, comfortable bed. The sun hit her face so she had to squint slightly, the brightness overpowering her sense of sight, realizing she must've had her eyes closed for a while. She moved her hand in front of her face to shield it, registering that she was not bound and guessing she was not with the enemy.

Finally, when she had grown used to the bright light she removed her hand form her eyes and gazed out of the window she faced, still lying there. All she could see was the sun, blue sky and a few towering trees. A few small birds darted in and out of her line of sight every so often, taking obvious delight in what looked to be a beautiful day.

Hermione smiled slightly as she sat up and heard a muffled sound of an American tune her mother had always played in the house for years and years. It sounded as though it was coming from something older—a record player or an old-fashioned jukebox, perhaps. The song was one of her all-time favorites and she felt her spirits lift slightly in contrast with the throbbing pain in her head. She placed a gentle hand on the place where she had been hurt and listened to the song, reminding herself so much of home.

_Rescue me, and take me in your arms...rescue me, I want your tender charms for I'm lonely and I'm blue...I need you, and your love too, come on and rescue me. Come on baby, and rescue me! Come on baby, and rescue me! 'Cause I need you by my side, can't you see, that I'm lonely? Rescue me..._

Hermione, allowing the music to move to the background of her hearing, began to take in the room around her. It was fairly massive, round and quite tall which suggested that it was some kind of large cylinder tower. It was all decorated in a hunter green, but still very bright at the same time. There seemed to be a domed appearance to the ceiling so far above her which reminded her (with a pang) of Hogwarts which in turn, threw into spectrum a terrifying thought: Harry.

Where had he gone? Had he run like Hermione had instructed him to? Or was this his care she was in, although she hadn't the foggiest where he would have brought her that would have been this magnificent, not to mention humongous, something that she knew they were trying to avoid: attracting attention to themselves.

But she had to know for sure and so with great effort, she heaved herself up to stand, wavering for a moment before gaining her balance, her head still pounding. She looked back at the large bed she had been apparently sleeping on. She saw her shape practically imbedded in the sheets, telling her she had not moved a single inch since arriving there. _Must've been out cold..._she thought to herself, sighing.

Carefully, she moved one shaky foot out in front of her, feeling relieved when she stood soundly, not swaying in the slightest, as she thought she would have. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something sparkle slightly, looking over and seeing a bottle of half-drank potion sitting there on the bed stand having caught the light. Well that explained that.

Pulling on her zip-up sweater, which had been hanging over the bedside armchair, she moved toward the large oak door and carefully opened it. Glancing about cautiously for a moment, she pushed the door open all of the way and stepped out onto cool marble flooring. There was a staircase that lead in a spiral downward, lead someplace unknown. But curiosity had taken a firm hold and she grasped the iron banister for support as she began her descend.

She was greeted at the bottom by what looked to be something of a sitting room with a huge open fireplace, large armchairs, and two couches with color matching those in the room above her. And then she saw another door. Hermione moved toward it, the quiet pitter-patter of her bare feet on the floor the only sound she heard. She opened the door just as slowly as the last and cautiously made her way through it.

She turned around briefly to close it behind her quietly, just in case, but she hadn't looked about this time into the room she had just entered. She jumped largely as she heard a voice from somewhere to her left.

"Hello, Miss Granger," came a cool voice which Hermione instantly recognized, although she had not heard it for months.

True as to her knowing guess of the voice's owner, the tall and dark form of Severus Snape came gliding out of the shadowy corner where he seemed to have been sitting at a desk. All pain forgotten, Hermione's curious expression vanished abruptly, glaring at her former professor with hate and rage and quite possibly every other cruel feeling she could muster, hoping it all showed in her face.

"You..." she muttered, half questioningly, half in distaste, staring straight into his cold, deep sea of black eyes. Gazing down only long enough to feel worry run through her body as she patted everywhere on her person for her wand, but found nothing, she looked back up at the man as he spoke.

"Looking for this," said Snape coolly, holding his hand up which also happened to contain Hermione's wand. She glared at him, as if that would cause him to back down.

"What do you want, you filth," she shot at him, trying to sound venomous, but feeling a numb sensation coming over her like a wave, knowing she was as good as dead now if Snape decided to attack.

His lip curled slightly, at her outburst. "Quite brave you are, Miss Granger," he said icily in response to her unhappiness, "to have such words...wand less." He emphasized quite a bit the last word, making her cringe knowing that waste of a man had a hold on her wand.

"I'm not afraid of you," said Hermione very quietly, hatefully. "I've come face to face with You-Know-Who himself," she said, "I think I can handle one Death Eater." Snape winced slightly and probably unnoticeably had Hermione not been looking directly at him. She furrowed her brow slightly at this, but shook it away, more important issues at hand, for instance, how she got here...where _here _was.

"Where's Harry," she demanded next. Snape's eyes flashed at the name, but he didn't falter much more than that. "What did you do with him?"

"I don't know where Potter is," said Snape, slightly devoid of his usual nasty tone but Hermione didn't take much notice, she only knew that he must be lying and was determined to make him tell her all he knew.

But Snape had continued talking, moving back over to the desk and standing behind it. "However, were _you_ not here, you would be dead," he said with a voice like stone. It was right then that Hermione realized two things: first, that the person who had cast the spell from behind her and shoved her to the ground must have been Snape. Second, that only now she knew where she was: the headmaster's office of Hogwarts. Only now had she looked around and really seen her surroundings since Snape had revealed himself when she came in the room. It disgusted her to see him perched behind what had been Dumbledore's desk, lording over it...that coward.

"Why?" she managed to croak out quietly, acquiring as to the reason of her detainment. She felt angry, confused, and yes, a little scared. But he did not respond to her question. Instead, he walked straight up to her, holding her wand parallel to her. She eyed him suspiciously, unknowing if he now just meant to finish her with her own wand.

_But he would have done that already...he had plenty of chances,_ she thought, her eyes then snapping back up to Snape's, the look on his face proof that he'd read her mind. She could only glare at him contemptuously.

But she was surprised, as he did not attempt to use the wand, but simply held it out to her, waiting for her to take it. She stared at the wand and then him, unsure at first but finally reaching out with caution to grasp it in delicate, slightly shaking hands.

With that Snape, with raised eyebrows, turned on his heel and began strolling towards the door. Hermione snapped out of her temporary confoundment as he did this, realizing he must be leaving and not having an intention of bringing her along.

"Hey!" she said after him in a raised voice, but he did not turn. "Hey! Where are you going? You can't keep me here!"

"I believe you'll find that being Headmaster, I in fact can," he said with a haughty air, making Hermione lightly scoff in disbelief that this was happening. "Not to mention your demise if you are detected outside of this office," he added, the sneer on his face and in his voice dissipating slightly but not too noticeably. And with that, he swept from the room, the door thudding closed behind him causing Hermione to jump as it did, still unwilling to believe that this was even happening.

Feeling very disconnected, she moved towards the door and reached for the handle, fully intending on getting out of there and tackling Snape in the process if she had to. But when she took hold of the door handle, she was zapped, a shock sent through her whole body.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, wrenching her hand back and staring at the door momentarily before she raised her wand and pointed it at the door.

_"Alohomora!" _She said, knowing before the word left her mouth that it was no good. The door simply clicked, as if cackling at her for even trying such a feeble spell.

_"Bombardo!" _she tried next, but that was just as unsuccessful as the first. She flung every spell she could think of at the door that could unlock it or knock it down, but no such luck. Finally, she cast one that, far from opening the door, blasted her backwards and she slid against the floor and hit the stairs with a thud.

Now her head really hurt. She cursed in pain and frustration as she clambered to her feet, using the stairs for support. Her whole body now screamed in protest as she slowly moved back towards the sealed doorway, her only escape.

In one more useless attempt of _Alohomora_, which she used more out of anger than anything, and after it did nothing, she slammed her foot into the door to show her anger at Snape, his locking spells, and herself.

Feeling the most defeated she'd ever had lately, she stalked back through the door of the office, wincing in pain every few steps, slamming the door behind her which caused a few of the portraits back in the office to give shouts of discontent. She paid no attention to them, totally lost in a daze. She felt so alone here now.

The muffled sound of the music she'd heard earlier had indeed come from an old jukebox in the corner of the sitting room where she had slumped into a chair. And to think not that long ago she had awoken to her favorite song, smiling and thinking she must be in a most wonderful place.

But of course, it was in no way the most wonderful place. She was being held hostage by Snape...the man (if he even deserved to be called a man) who murdered Dumbledore. But yet, she wondered what could have possibly possessed him to bring her here..."for her safety," nonetheless. What had possessed him into such an act of kindness, if you could even call it that? He was, after all, keeping her against her will, not to mention refusing to answer any question she had asked.

She could have been imagining it, but something seemed different about Severus Snape. Perhaps he was just run-down from all of his Death Eater work. Hermione scoffed out loud as the thought crossed her mind.

"Poor Snape," she muttered sarcastically to herself as she adjusted herself in the large chair and closed her eyes. "Must be so hard to sit here all nice and comfortable while people are out there dying..." Her last words were muffled though, just like the music had been, as she drifted out of consciousness and back into sleep.


	3. A Little Bit of Sympathy

She awoke what must have been hours later. She knew this because the room around her had become quite dark. Hermione also realized that she was, again, in the large bed, which repulsed her slightly seeing as it was probably where Snape usually slept. She only hoped that he had the decency to change the sheets before putting her in them.

This also meant Snape had moved her because she remembered falling asleep in the chair in the sitting room a floor below her. Slowly, she sat up, and glanced to her right to where the bottle of potion still was sitting, and what looked to be a piece of parchment sitting underneath it.

Hermione picked it up, a bit baffled as to its appearance. Severus Snape did not seem the kind of man to leave notes laying around for other people. But nonetheless, she picked it up and lit her wand to read it in the dark.

_Drink the rest of the potion._

Hermione stared. That was it? "Drink the potion?" She said aloud, glancing at the vile. "No way," she stated to herself, shaking her head knowing that was just asking for more trouble. But her attention was brought back to the paper she held in her hands. It was writing by itself.

_Just drink it. It's for the head wound. _

Hermione stared at the message that had just written itself. Assuming it was Snape who had somehow connected the parchment and her speech (or something along those lines), she alarmedly put it back on the nightstand, hoping it would break the connection once she no longer had hold of it. Nothing else happened. She wondered if he was still awake; she should go and see if he was, in fact, doing what she thought he was.

Very carefully, very quietly, she slid off of the bed, the cold sensation of the floor hitting her bare feet again. Just as quietly, she crept towards the staircase and began to descend to the sitting room.

Towards the end of the stairs, she stopped and peered into the room whose only light came from the dying fire under the mantel. But what she saw confused her quite a bit indeed.

Snape was on the couch, seeming to be fast asleep and looking to be in the most uncomfortable position ever which made Hermione feel quite gleeful about the whole thing. Just knowing he was in discomfort, if only slight, made her feel brighter. Obviously, he had not just sent that message.

Although, there was something else about him too, something different that she had never seen in an awakened Snape. His facial expression was relaxed slightly and he looked quite a great deal younger. The strands of black hair fell lazily about his face and he just looked...peaceful.

Hermione shook these thoughts away from her mind though, unwilling to have any reason to warm up to him or something. With these final thoughts gone, she shook her head and went back up the stairs, wishing greatly that she could be the one sleeping on the couch, not the bed...his bed.

The next morning Hermione's eyes opened to find a tray of breakfast sitting before her. The vile of potion was empty now; she had finally just given in during the night and drank it, the pain had been so terrible.

But she was starving; there was no denying _that_. Hungrily, she shoved the delicious food in her mouth, unable to slow down to savor the taste at all. It definitely had come from the Hogwarts kitchen; Hermione would know that cooking anywhere and it made her feel a great to taste it again.

With a great, heavy sigh, she pushed away the now empty tray away from her and glanced around the sunny room. She had not fully taken it all in the previous day; she had been far too preoccupied with other thoughts. And to think this all even existed beyond the Headmaster's study! She knew for certain that nothing about this was ever mentioned in anything about the school; not even in _Hogwarts, a History._ But she supposed that whoever the head of the school was, they would certainly like their privacy within their study.

Standing up also came easier for her today, as she stood and began to slowly walk around the room, exploring. First, she went to one of three windows that were around her height. (The rest of the light came from the domed ceiling and much higher windows). A little cautiously, she gazed out, her eyes meeting the sight of the grounds at the edge of the forest and Hagrid's hut. It was early, judging by where the sun was and the vacancy of the dewy grass. She stared out for a long while, watching the sun move from beyond the trees and hit the sloping grounds, finally casting light on everything all the way to the lake where the water glittered.

Hermione finally glanced over her shoulder behind her for something else to look at. Turning around fully, she leaned back against the windowsill and stared ahead of her, arms folded, her mind starting to work again.

There had to be a way out. That's all she could think of. That, and finding Harry or at least finding out _about him_. Thinking of him only sent her stomach for a quick plummet down to her toes, worries seeming to rush through her at the speed of light.

Again, she gazed around, determined that the way out was right in front of her, she was simply just not seeing it. After what seemed like forever, the last possible solution came to mind: leave by force. She went back over to the bed and sat on the edge, starting to concoct a plan to get her out of here and with any luck, find out something about Harry.

Finally, after hours of going over it in her head, she decided she was ready. It was midday now as she crept out of the bedroom and down the stairs, making sure to check for any sign of Snape before descending fully into the living room.

The room was empty and so she moved very carefully over to the door that lead to the office, her wand drawn and ready, waiting.

Her plan was fairly simple, consisting of taking Snape by surprise, granted she could keep her mind closed. She knew how easily he could penetrate the mind and so all of those hours she had devoted to clearing her head.

Fortunately, not too long after she had positioned herself behind the door, she heard the office's door open and close with a hard thud. Hermione's stomach knotted in apprehension as she made one last attempt to keep her mind closed. She had to be quick, she knew that much because there would be little time in which to do this.

A frustrated noise and what sounded like a fist pounding down on wood told Hermione that Snape had probably just a trying first part of his day. But she felt no remorse; quite the contrary. She hoped he was all the more side tracked with his own thoughts, making it easier for her to have a clear shot.

A disgruntled sigh and scraping of a chair readied Hermione for her plan. She stood there, awaiting the turning of the doorknob, trying to keep her mind under control.

Apparently though, she was not concealing her mind hard enough, because Snape's movement stopped on the other side of the door and he spoke as though right in front of her.

"Put the wand away Miss Granger," he said. "Please, I intend no harm to you—"

But at the same exact time as he was finishing that sentence, she yelled out the spell as she thrust the door open as well. Much to her surprise, it hit him squarely in the chest; sending him flying backwards and after knocking his head hard into a side table, lay quite still, knocked out.

Hermione breathed out shakily as she cautiously came out from under the doorframe and walked toward the unconscious man on the floor, a small stream of blood issuing from the wound in the back of his head. She tried hard not to glance down at him, brushing past to get out of the room as soon as possible.

With great relief, she found he had not recast the protective charms on the door yet and it opened with ease. But as she started out of the office, something pulled back at her consciously. Her hand on the knob, she stopped and breathed steadily for a few moments, her mind now re-occupied with more thoughts.

What exactly was stopping her from leaving when she clearly had the open chance befuddled her slightly. But it was just the way he had said something about not trying to hurt her; something in the way he sounded that she hadn't expected was what stopped her in her tracks, and now she was torn.

She glanced behind her, then back towards the stairs in front of her before heaving a sigh and closing her eyes, knowing what she had to do.

Softly, she closed the door and turned around, a pitying look on her face as she looked down at the unconscious Snape still with a trickle of blood coming from under the black mass of hair. Kneeling down next to him, Hermione supported him at the neck with her hand while she muttered a spell to protect the gash in the back of his head. Gently, she lay his head back down and stood up, trying to think of what to do.

Still unknowing as to what was driving her to help him, she decided to just move him upstairs to his bed.

"_Wingardium Leviosa," _she sighed as she looked at his limp form, never having seen him so helpless-looking before. Snape's body rose off the floor, leaving a deep red puddle there, and started floating towards the doorway as Hermione moved him.

The spiral stairs themselves were the tricky part, trying not to bang his already injured head into the banister as she levitated him up them. Finally, she made it in the room and rested him down on the bed with ease, lifting the charm and stowing her wand in her pocket as she walked over to him.

She simply just looked down on him for a time, trying to decide what she was doing exactly. It was a while before she came to her senses again and decided it would be best to try and bandage it a little and maybe try and brew that potion he had made for her.

She conjured gauze and bandages with her wand and carefully placed them on the back of his head, hoping he didn't come to while she was trying to fix him up. She knew it would have unnerved both of them, not to mention how awkward it would be if he woke up while she was touching his head; she judged that he was not someone who enjoyed being handled by others.

After getting him all patched up, Hermione left the room and went down to the sitting room where she immediately crashed on the large sofa, her mixed feelings following her all the way back into another one of those deep, deep sleeps.


	4. Understanding

It was dark out when Hermione's eyes opened this time. She let her eyes adjust as she glanced around for a clock of some sort and upon finding it, squinted to read the time:

10:30. She was not in the least bit tired anymore and in any case, decided it would be smart to make a quick check on Snape to make sure everything was ok with his injury and all.

Being very careful to keep silent as she went up the stairs, she came to the top and opened the door a fraction to peer inside. Here, she had to also squint in order for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when they did, found the bed to be vacated. For a moment she worried, but then caught herself and shook it away. But she was still curious, naturally, and decided that maybe he was in the office and so she made her way in that general direction, still carrying that strange torn sensation.

Sure enough, when she came through the sitting room and the door to the office which had been left open, she saw Snape standing with his back to her, leaning over the desk with his hands supporting him, head hung low.

Hermione saw the bandage still there, and worried a little less. She was all ready to turn around and go back upstairs when Snape spoke; very quietly, it startled her as it was not his normal tone but softer and more defeated-sounding than anything else.

"What are you doing up," he asked, the question obviously aimed at Hermione even though he had not specified so. "You need to rest."

Surprised, it took her a few moments to answer him. "I—I thought I would make sure everything was—ok..." she finally said, letting it trail off into the air a little nervously.

"Well I'm fine," he said with a bit more of his regular nasty tone, making Hermione wince slightly. "As you can see, I'm quite preoccupied at the moment," he said with an even more crabby voice when Hermione had said nothing to his previous statement, "you would be well advised to leave me alone." It was bitterness that came though the most in his voice as Hermione stared at the back of his head, shocked at him. She had, after all, saved him from bleeding out on the floor of the office instead of running out like she'd planned on.

But something made her fire up as well, making her act far from leaving him alone.

"Oh well perhaps I should have just allowed you to stay bleeding on the floor earlier," she shot back at him, watching the muscles in his back tighten as she said it but he did not turn around. "I could have _left you alone_ then...how would that have been?"

"I do believe," he said in a venomous growl, "that never would have happened if someone hadn't _cursed _me!" Hermione was ready with her retort though:

"Well what did you expect, you're holding me hostage remember? What was I supposed to think?" she exclaimed incredulously. These words did not sit well with Snape though...

"Hostage?" He said with a questioning tone mixed with disbelief. "You naïve girl," he exclaimed as he finally spun around menacingly to glare at her. "Were you not here, you would surely be dead or worse," he spat.

"Oh, so you're trying to say you have me here for my protection," she said in a ridiculous tone of voice, disbelieving what he was saying in every way. He only gave her an obvious look as an answer to her question, as if to say that's what he'd been saying all along.

"Well if what you say is true," she continued in that same voice, "why am I locked away here? Surely I would just as safe in—"

"The school?" He finished for her, catching her slightly off her guard. She stopped, mid-sentence, her mouth still open slightly as he continued to speak:

"Hogwarts is no longer safe for you. In case you haven't noticed, they are targeting people like you just as heavily as Potter..."

"People like me," Hermione said hatefully and quieter than before, "like Mudbloods, you mean." Snape's expression shifted slightly at the word and then nodded slightly. But something else he had just said had caught her attention.

"You said 'they'," she said before Snape could move on the Mudblood matter any further. She received a half angered, half questioning look. "You said_ they_ are targeting people like me...I'm sure you meant to say 'we'," she stated in as cruelest tone she could muster.

Knowing she had been referring to him as a Death Eater, Snape narrowed his eyes and half-glared at her, seeming to choose to not respond to her statement.

"You are safest here," he finished in conclusion. "Safest where they will not expect you to be." Hermione scoffed audibly enough for Snape to frown at her.

"If you want to hide something," he added, "you hide it in plain sight..."

Hermione, who had glanced away, looked back at Snape with mixed thoughts when he said this. She was scared out of her wits, although she wouldn't ever admit it; she was also beginning to become a bit curious. Curious as to what exactly Snape was really up to, why he had saved her back in the forest (or at least that's what she assumed had happened), and in addition, she was actually starting to believe that perhaps she was not in danger here; perhaps Snape really did not mean any harm to her at all. Perhaps all he had been saying so far was the truth...

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Hermione sighed slightly and broke the quiet.

"Perhaps I should take another look at that cut," she said quietly and a little timidly not wanting him to blow up at her.

But Snape only scowled, turning back to the desk. "I don't need your bloody help," he growled. She glared at the back of his head.

"Ok look," she said a-matter-of-factly, "it's only going to get infected if the bandages don't get changed so you may as well just let me do it." Then she waited. It didn't take long for her to see his back heave in a sigh and his head hang a fraction lower as if in defeat. Finally, he turned around, a look on his face as if to say "get on with it if you must."

She half smirked, mostly at her self and triumph and was glad to see that Snape had noticed and frowned harder at her. Now she couldn't help but smile a little at herself as she ushered him to sit at the desk with her hands.

Grudgingly, Snape obliged, sitting down heavily and not looking pleasant in the slightest. Hermione strolled behind him and carefully pulled back the large white bandage from the back of his head where the gash was still issuing sticky red blood. She frowned at it as she conjured a simple curing paste solution out of thin air and stuck her hand in her pocket where she had left the gauze from earlier and began to apply it to his head.

Snape inhaled sharply as the paste came in light contact with the open wound. Hermione ignored it, thinking it must have only been because he hadn't expected it.

She was wrong...

"Arg! —" He shouted, cursing into the semi-dark room ahead of him as she applied more pressure, filling the gash with ointment. She jumped at his outburst and only shook her head annoyingly as he continued to curse and practically yelp in pain.

"My, aren't we being childish," she said, sounding so much like her own mother it startled her somewhat. "Oh, do hold still..."

"It HURTS," Snape growled through tightly gritted teeth.

"Well perhaps if you _sat still_," she said just as angrily, "it wouldn't hurt so bad now would it?"

Snape only responded with a disgruntled noise, folding his arms angrily. But after a few moments, Hermione could see his shoulders un-tense slightly and he only breathed a tad sharply when she really applied any pressure.

"There," she stated as she applied a fresh bandage which was a little smaller than the first (now that the bleeding was more under control). "Not so bad there, was it?" She didn't expect a response to that and did not receive one.

And then something came out of Snape's mouth; something she thought she would never hear him say, not to her of all people.

"Thank you," he muttered, clearly trying to make it sound quiet so perhaps Hermione wouldn't even hear. But she had. As he said it, she momentarily paused in re-applying the bandage but resumed and finished it off, sighing to herself.

"You're welcome," she said, her words sounding unsure. Snape shifted slightly.

More silence followed that and neither of them moved from where they were situated. The silence ensued for what might have been forever had Hermione not cleared her throat quietly, which meant the announcement of her departure. Snape said nothing for or against the matter; he was still sitting there motionless, staring at his hands.

Hermione was half way across the room when she stopped and turned around, a question burning furiously at her that needed answering immediately. She had asked it before, on the morning she first woke up, but knew it had not been answered in its entirety.

"Because," said Snape in a sigh, having sensed what she was about to say, "I gave Dumbledore my word that I would do all in my power to protect the students of Hogwarts after he had gone..." he trailed off, immobile again, seeming to be thinking and calculating his words to himself. But something just struck Hermione as...odd. Had Snape just said 'after he had gone'? Did that mean there was something more to Dumbledore's death than everyone knew?

It was starting to become clear to Hermione that there just might be another part to the story; that part, that something could possibly be the key to understanding this man who now sat before her, looking so unlike himself it frightened her slightly.

Snape then stirred slightly in his seat, finally standing up and after a moment's hesitation, walked over to the other side of the room. He stopped in front of a large, stone basin, which was glowing a curious light blue color. Hermione instantly recognized it as Dumbledore's Pensive. Snape sighed heavily once, looking down into it and then finally glancing up at Hermione with decisive eyes.

"Come," he said with a beckoning hand towards Hermione, intending her to join him at the edge of the basin.

After thinking about it for a moment, she obliged and walked over slowly, never removing her eyes from where he stood. When she arrived at his side, she gazed down into the Pensive herself, only seeing swirling blue in front of her eyes and she found herself a bit frightened now; it had just dawned on her what Snape wanted her to do: he wanted her to venture into the Pensive, into _his_ memories.

But if she did that, she didn't know what she might encounter in there. What lay ahead terrified her, not only because it was Snape's memories involved, but also her memory of two years previous when Harry had made the mistake of venturing in on Snape's private thoughts. Her remembrance of the subject was it had not been pleasant, and she was all for not repeating that again.

Except, unfortunately for her and her wants, Snape was still looking at her expectantly, as if she would just up and jump into the thing with him. She looked first at the basin, then Snape skeptically, her nerves bouncing off one another like a tennis ball.

He cleared his throat, causing her to look up at him from where her eyes had previously been. "Years from now," he said quietly, "when you're looking back on your life, will you wonder what might have happened if you never saw this for yourself?" Hermione stared at him, calculating very quickly to herself; the risks...the advantages...everything else that could _possibly_ go wrong, but yet, she suddenly found herself understanding that she simply had to do it. And if not for her sake, then for Snape's, who now seemed desperate to make someone see the truth...the real truth.

So she moved forward, closer, with all of her courage to his still beckoning hand, looking up at his black eyes, which seemed to be pleading, but now had a satisfied glint in them.

She gazed down into the Pensive. She knew how this worked: it was like apparation and they would end up in different places, in this case memories, if they weren't somehow connected. Without looking away from the swirling blue that was neither liquid nor gas, she put her small hand in his, which twitched unexpectedly as she did so.

After what seemed to be momentary shock at her taking his hand, he leaned close to the basin and plunged in, pulling Hermione along. The world around her swirled temporarily until they landed with a thud on a cold marble floor, quite unlike the one they had just left.

"...And you expect me to believe you, do you?" Said a much younger Dumbledore coldly, towering over a kneeling, defeated man in a black cloak, whose face was covered with his own hands. But Hermione didn't have to see his face to know who it was.

"Please," said the younger Snape imploringly, finally revealing a tear-stained face, looking up into the blue eyes that were now devoid of the bright twinkle that Hermione had always seen. "He killed them, he killed Lily..." he choked, trailing off.

Hermione's heart missed a beat, realizing that there was only one person he could possibly be talking about.

"And you are telling me Severus," Dumbledore continued just as coolly, "that you are renouncing the dark ways so suddenly?"

"All of them, I swear to you—"

"—Just to _avenge _Lily Potter's death?"

Snape's memory self flinched at the old man's words. Hermione glanced up sideways at the real Snape whose face was stone, totally unreadable. It frightened her slightly to see the man she had only known to be steadfast and so unnerving cowering on the ground, crying like a child. But she brought her attention back to the scene when Dumbledore continued to speak.

"...Then promise me, Severus Snape, you will help me to protect their son, the son of Lily and James Potter."

There was a deafening silence. Memory Snape was staring at the ground, taking deep breaths, thinking to himself. Dumbledore simply watched him, the most hateful look upon his face Hermione had ever seen before. Finally, he looked up again, the look in his eyes making it quite clear that all he wanted was Dumbledore's help. Dumbledore nodded once and then time swirled again as that memory ended and they landed somewhere new: the Forbidden Forest, by the looks of it.

And sure enough, down the path came a recognizable Snape and Dumbledore, walking slowly, seeming deep in conversation. Hermione noticed, as the two men got closer, that Snape seemed to be limping slightly.

_First year...Fluffy..._she thought to herself, remembering back to when they had thought it was Snape who had been after the Sorcerer's Stone. She sensed the real Snape next to her had just read her mind, but she ignored it and listened as the two men came closer to them:

"Just like his arrogant, full of himself father—"

"Severus..." Dumbledore cut him off half warningly, but sounded sadly understanding at the same time. "The boy is not his father, you must give him time to define himself." Snape only grunted in response.

"I suspect that he is beginning to uncover a great deal about what you are hiding, Headmaster," Snape said, changing the subject slightly. Dumbledore nodded and smiled to himself.

"He is undoubtedly clever, and yes," said Dumbledore sounding proud, "I believe in time, he will in fact uncover the truth."

"And you think that wise? To let that continue?"

"Just keep an eye on Quirrell, would you," requested Dumbledore, brushing Snape's question off.

The scene changed again, landing them back in the Headmaster's office. Hermione looked around, trying to find someone. It was quite dark in there, with exception of one light on in the corner of the room where Dumbledore sat in a chair, arm outstretched to Snape who was kneeling on the ground examining it.

"You fool," he accused annoyingly, but still extremely worried-sounding, "you put the ring on? You could have died! What on Earth possessed you to—"

But Dumbledore put up his other hand to silence him. Snape only shook his head as he continued to work on the mangled hand. "How long," asked Dumbledore quietly.

It took Snape a few moments to answer. He stood up and looked at his feet before speaking. "My guess...a little less than a year," he said solemnly, not looking up at Dumbledore. "It's lucky I could even stop the curse, but the blockage is only slowing the process."

"Then I must work faster to prepare Harry for what is to come," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, not sounding perplexed in the slightest that he was about to be on his deathbed. But before Hermione could hear any more, they moved again, but not moving locations, only time.

"...So I suppose his plan is for you to finish me off if Draco does not succeed?" Dumbledore inquired of what Hermione assumed was about his murder that was planned by Voldemort. Snape nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, that is, I think, his plan."

"Then you must carry it out, Severus," said Dumbledore, quite calmly. Snape looked at him, horrified.

"I will not...I cannot!"

"You must and you will," said Dumbledore sternly. "Please, Severus," he continued. "We both know the end is near for me. Let it be with dignity that I go, that is all I ask of you."

Snape's horrified, but excepting expression followed Hermione into the next memory, back in the forest. The two men seemed to be arguing.

"You are telling me that after all of this time, all we have done was mold the boy so he could be led to his slaughter by the Dark Lord in the end to save everyone else," Snape asked incredulously of a very calm Dumbledore who looked up at him curiously.

"You _have_ come to care for him then?"

"Him??" Shouted Snape, face now contorted with rage. "_Expecto Patronum!"_ He said suddenly and out of the end of his wand erupted a small, silver doe.

Hermione gasped. It had been _him._ Snape's Patronus had been what directed Harry to the sword in the pool. She was dumbfounded. But what significance it all had was still unclear to her.

"Still?"

The look on Snape's face told Dumbledore the answer to his question.

The scene again dissolved into a cold evening atop one of the castle towers where Dumbledore was surrounded by Death Eaters, wandless but smiling. Hermione already knew what this was and that she did not want to see it.

It all happened so fast. Snape burst through the doors, Dumbledore's terrifying plead came in contact with her ears. She was shaking and she cried out as the curse hit him in the chest and he fell backwards off the parapet. She could have imagined it but as they were once again lifted away from the scene, she thought she felt the real Snape's hand grip her own slightly tighter.

The next memory found Snape seated at the Headmaster's desk in the office, Dumbledore's portrait now hanging directly above him, giving him instructions, the Sword of Godric Gryffindor laying across the desk in front of him.

"You must keep up pretenses with Voldemort," warned Dumbledore's painting. Snape nodded his head only once to signify he had heard.

"You still will not tell me why Potter needs the sword, then," asked Snape with bitterness in his voice.

"Only that he will, in due course, be in need of its services," replied Dumbledore mistily. Snape scoffed inaudibly, raising his eyebrows skeptically.

"Be cautious when you give it to him, Severus," he warned again. "Do not let him see you. I doubt your presence will be welcomed...under the circumstances."

Snape nodded once. "Don't worry," he said, picking up the sword. "I have a plan..."

The portrait of Dumbledore smiled and Hermione and the real Snape whirled backwards and upward, Hermione knowing that their trip down memory lane had just ended.

Hermione landed hard on her back as she hit the floor of the present-day Headmaster's office. She was breathing hard and tears were falling down what she was sure were ghost-white cheeks.

Snape had landed standing up and didn't move at all, said nothing, just stood there. Hermione stared at his back, unsure whether to be afraid or not, finally understanding him, or at least partially.

She couldn't believe it. All of that time, he really had been on their side; he was good...and he killed Dumbledore because Dumbledore asked him to.

Nothing more was said after they returned that night. Hermione couldn't bring herself to say anything, ask any questions. So, she quietly had gotten up and went back to the couch, saying nothing, as Snape stayed where he had come out of the Pensive, unable to speak.

**A/N: Some of this story is very loosely based on the events of DH. The scene in the pensive is somewhat the same idea as the real thing, but it's obviously been changed a little. Thanks for reading! **


	5. Confrontations

Hermione was sitting on the couch the next evening, knees drawn up to her chest, holding a mug of tea and thinking. She was still unsure of what had actually been witnessed the night before in the Pensive and wasn't ready to make any sense of it yet.

She was so immersed in thought that she didn't realize the door from the main office open and Snape walk inside. The door closed with a slight thud and only then did she glance up out of her thoughts as Snape sat down at the smaller study desk across the room from her.

Hermione watched him for a few moments, praying he would say something, anything. She couldn't bear this silence...it scared her somehow. After what she'd seen, she had at least hoped Snape would have _something_ to say to her. But despite her wishes, Snape showed no signs of speaking up anytime soon so she just looked back down at the inside of her mug, moving her finger subconsciously around the rim of it's porcelain surface.

After a while, Snape got up and walked briskly past her to the fireplace where he stooped to move another log. Hermione watched him out of the corners of her eyes as he passed by, making no indication she was there. After the fire was moving again, Snape did not go back to his desk, but stood quite still again, seeming to be staring into the hearth.

"About last night..." he started.

"I have no regrets," Hermione interjected, cutting him off, "if that's what this is about." She'd spoken very quietly but knew he'd heard her because she noticed a slight nod of the head.

"Neither do I," said Snape just as quietly. "Neither do I..."

Hermione waited again, having a feeling this conversation had not ended in the slightest, thumbing the edges of her mug subconsciously.

"Why didn't you tell anyone," she dared to ask suddenly, not looking up and continuing to stare into her tea. A million questions were racing through her mind that she wanted answered, but this one seemed to be the one that had nagged her all night after getting out of the Pensive.

"Do you honestly think that anyone would have believed me," he inquired harshly, not turning around.

"I believe you."

"Only after you witnessed it for yourself..."

Hermione had no response to that. It was true, in its entirety. She probably would not have believed him if she hadn't first seen it with her own eyes. But that was beside the point; perhaps if Snape had told someone it could have helped Harry destroy Voldemort quicker.

He seemed to sense what she was thinking because he stiffened as he spoke. "_He_ never would have believed me," Snape said with a heavy resentment. Hermione furrowed her brow at him.

"You really don't give him enough credit you know," she said, starting to become slightly angered at him. This, however, did not sit well with Snape either and he spun around and glared at her menacingly.

"Credit? What _credit_ does Potter deserve from me," he spat, his voice rising. Hermione did not falter though. She kept her glare as well; having a feeling this conversation was no longer going to be a quiet one.

"He _deserves_ to know the truth," she shot back just as forcefully.

Silence was all she received as Snape continued to glare at her, finally turning away again giving Hermione the feeling he was trying to avoid looking at her now. She gazed at his back somewhat suspiciously, have a strong feeling there was something he wasn't saying.

But it was forgotten because just as suddenly as he'd turned his back to her, he snapped to attention and stared intently at the door as if he were listening very hard. Hermione's stomach jumped, although she didn't know what was going on, but figured it wasn't anything good.

Snape had put up his hand to ensure her silence as he moved even closer to the door and listened. When he turned to face her, she jumped.

"Get up," he said quickly in a hushed tone as he moved swiftly to where Hermione was sitting and took hold of her arm to pull her up. Now her mind was racing to all of the possibilities of what could be on the other side of the door. And then she heard it; they both did.

Footsteps. Very close footsteps coming towards the door to the sitting room. Hermione didn't know who they belonged to, but she had a pretty good idea that it wasn't anybody she wanted to see if Snape was acting this way about it.

But she didn't have much more time to think about it. She suddenly found herself being backed into the wall next to the hearth by Snape. For a moment she seemed to just be pinned there and wondered what in the world he was doing, but right when the door opened she felt herself go _through_ the wall.

Hermione took in a breath of air as though being submerged in water as she passed through the cold stone, just in time for Lucius Malfoy to make his way into the sitting room.

Snape froze, as did Hermione. She could still see, still hear the scene in front of her, but she knew that they could not see past the wall. Breathing hard out of slight fear and shock, she started to back away from the room that she seemed to no longer be a part of. Subconsciously, she expected to hit another wall. However, that was not so.

Without so much as a warning, she took one last step and found herself falling backwards and down, only hearing Snape's snide remark to Malfoy about the meaning of privacy.

The fall wasn't long, and a small yell emitted from her throat as she landed hard, hearing the unmistakable crunch of wood that must have broken her fall.

"Ouch, that hurt," she muttered to herself, trying to regain her breath as she pushed herself up.

"Her—Hermione?" Came an uncertain, but familiar-sounding voice from the other side of wherever she had just landed. Hermione squinted through some clearing dust until her eyes focused upon the round, confused face of Neville Longbottom.

Relief swept over her aching body, but she ignored the pain as she stood up all the way and moved a little closer to her friend who seemed to be sitting at a table with a sandwich in front of him.

"Neville?" She said, just as confused as he looked. "What are—where am I?"

But Neville only continued to look at her with a curious expression on his plump face. He looked like he needed some serious explaining to happen soon.

"Wh—what are you doing here," he asked quietly, clearly befuddled. "_How_ did you get here?"

Hermione was all ready to answer him when it hit her how bad this was. No one was supposed to know she was in Hogwarts...Snape would be furious if he found out. Not to mention she had no clue how she even got into what she just realized was the Hogwarts kitchen.

"I can't believe you're here," Neville finally said after Hermione didn't answer his question. "Where's Harry?"

This hit Hermione like a blow to the chest; she hadn't thought about Harry for the last day and she had no idea where he was. The thought simply terrified her. But she just shook her head at Neville.

"I don't know, Neville," she said in a small, sad voice. "We were separated..." Neville too looked uneasy at her answer. He, along with loads of other people, had probably expected him back long before now and was disappointed that his location wasn't even known now. Not to mention they were all worried about him. That was just common knowledge these days.

"But then what are _you_ doing here," Neville asked after a moment, sounding a bit skeptical. "You were with him, weren't you?"

Hermione didn't know what to say. She could hardly tell Neville that Snape had supposedly rescued her during the ambush in the forest and now she was hiding out in the Headmaster's quarters.

However, she found she wouldn't have to.

"So this is where you and your little friends come to plot now is it, Longbottom," came Snape's very cold voice from behind them. Hermione breathed in sharply at his sudden arrival and closed her eyes; this would not be pleasant.

Neville's expression changed instantly when he saw the Headmaster emerge from the shadows. "_You..._" he practically snarled, glaring at Snape with the utmost contempt. Hermione was startled, having only heard Neville sound like this the time he had been face-to-face with Bellatrix Lestrange two years previous. Then he really startled her when he suddenly whipped his wand out, pointing it at Snape who didn't react except for what Hermione was sure was a very ugly expression.

The tension in the room had suddenly become insanely high as the two people on either side of Hermione glared at each other, Neville willing to curse Snape out of the castle and Snape close to explosion-point.

"What are you doing here," Neville spat out of nowhere like venom.

"Neville..." Hermione warned, but it hardly came out as a croak.

"Last time I checked, Longbottom," growled Snape just as venomously, "students do not have it in their power to question their Headmaster..."

"Last time _I checked_, murdering Death Eaters weren't allowed to become Headmasters," Neville said in a sting. Hermione couldn't believe she was hearing this come out of Neville Longbottom's mouth. This was bad, very bad.

"Why you little—" started Snape in the most murderous tone Hermione had ever heard from even him. She turned around just in time for Snape to pull out his wand and raise it, but she was thankfully, faster.

"Hey, you know what...just stop, ok," she said quietly going over to Snape and putting both hands on his outstretched wand arm. What drove her to do that, to touch him so unexpectantly, she could not began to fathom at the moment, but nonetheless it didn't even phase the man in the slightest.

Teeth bared, Snape was vicious-looking, and would not budge. He hadn't even seemed to notice that someone had touched his arm. Finally, when she applied more pressure, he at last glanced down at his arm where her hands were and then to her pleading face.

Whether the look he now bore was because of what Neville had just said or because she had touched him was unclear, but at least he finally lowered his wand. Hermione let out a small sigh of relief as she turned to Neville again who was now standing there, seeming dumbstruck at what she had just done.

Hermione shook her head sadly at him as if it were some sort of apology or something, or perhaps an explanation.

"What the—" he stammered. "What is going on?"

"Not that it concerns you—" Snape started but Hermione turned on him again and started to push him to move backwards.

"Let's just go, alright," she said in a slightly aggravated tone. Snape said nothing, only grunted in response as he glared at Neville with all the hatred he could possibly muster while surprisingly, allowing Hermione to push him towards where she hoped she saw stairs that would lead back to the study.

"Hermione!" Neville practically yelled after them, as if pleading for an explanation as to what in the world was going on. But all she could think to say was for him not to tell anyone she was there. Neville only nodded, dumbstruck as Hermione was still practically pushing Snape up the stairs and out of sight.

"He shouldn't have said that to you," she said timidly in a small voice when they returned to the study, and she meant it. Another disbelieving grunt was all she got from Snape's end as he swiftly walked into the main office and over to the desk. Hermione followed, unwilling to let this drop just yet.

But Snape was striding away from her, seeming completely un-effected with the fact that Hermione was still attempting to talk to him.

_He really can be stubborn when he wants to be..._

"Would you stop for just one moment?!" She yelled, furious that he wouldn't at least do her the courtesy of just listening to her.

"You would be well advised to watch your tone, Miss Granger," Snape said through what sounded like tightly gritted teeth. "After that...scene downstairs, you're lucky I don't put you back where I found you."

"Oh really? Well forgive me if I'm incorrect, but I don't think the murder of a student at Hogwarts would be very good for your image. And _you_ would be well advised, as you so call it, to try and be at least the slightest bit civil, _sir_," she half-yelled at Snape's now rigid back. She assumed it was because of how she had just spoken to him, but she found that in that moment, she didn't really care.

After a long, deadly silence, Snape spun to face her and said, "Have something more to say, do you?"

_I most certainly do you—_

"Well out with it then," Snape interrupted her thoughts, clearly still very upset.

Letting the breath out she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Hermione shook her head slowly, preparing to speak. But she found nothing escaped her now very dry throat.

Snape sneered at her silence, wearing the unmistakable expression of the phrase, 'that's what I thought...' and with a raised eyebrow, turned away from her again.

She cursed herself internally for losing her words, not to mention her edge. The man was insufferable, and she was slowly seeing just how irritating it was going to be to be around him. But there was something else too; something that Hermione couldn't quite put her finger on but it was there, nonetheless.

"What consequence is it to you what Longbottom says to me," Snape said randomly, startling Hermione out of her thoughts. It took her a moment to register what he'd said and that he had been addressing her.

Finally, coming to her senses, she answered, looking straight at him. "Perhaps this is a shock, Professor, but have you ever thought it possible that people do care about you...no matter how much you try to push them away?"

That hit him like a hippogriff full blast. He hadn't actually expected such a weighty answer out of the young witch's mouth...no matter how clever she may indeed be. Not that he would ever admit that out loud to her, of course. But "care about him?"

_No one could possibly care for you, least of all her..._ He thought to himself bitterly, and then pushing it roughly out of his head as though it were poison, cursing himself for thinking that way of her.

"And you would be one of these _people_," he mocked, managing to glare at her very hard; the glare he knew to install fear in the hearts of children everywhere...the glare that could hide what he was truly feeling from the rest of the world around him.

He was shocked, however, to find Hermione glaring back at him; one to rival his own—piercing, cold, angry.

When his un-breaking, hateful stare was too much to take anymore, Hermione shook her head and diverted her eyes to the floor where she took deep, steadying breathes to control her anger and frustration.

_Wouldn't kill the man to at least listen for once. Stubborn ass..._

Snape raised an eyebrow at her thoughts. Realizing he'd read them, she stared up at him startled, then shot him a hateful look.

"Don't do that!" She said with disdain, feeling quite offended that he had just invaded her mind without so much of a warning. A sneering, evil grin appeared on the man's face; not one of happiness by any means, but of pure pleasure of watching her loathe him.

Fearing that she would let her anger burst at any moment and not desiring the consequences for more outbursts at him, she shot one more hateful look in his direction and turned away, stalking out of the office and into the rooms.

When she finally felt able to breathe, she was surprised to hear Snape following her, closing the door behind him. She just closed her eyes, calming herself, knowing that it was only asking for trouble to rise...

"Stubborn as though I may be, Miss Granger," Snape drawled into the darkening room at her back. Now it was Hermione's turn for her muscles to tighten, "you still have no place to speak to me like I was a child."

"Well you damn well are acting like one...and you know it!"

"Keep it up and you _will_ be sorry..." Snape warned, his eyes flashing at her slight accusation.

Hermione quietly scoffed, raising her brow at his statement. She found any fear she might have had was quickly thrown out the window in that moment. "You _rescue_ me then threaten me...however do you manage such a hypocritical accomplishment?"

"Miss Granger," Snape growled warningly. "Do _not_ test me."

"I'm bloody well not afraid of a coward like you," she all but growled, finally turning to look at him, straight in the cold, black eyes.

She hadn't really meant to say it; the words in her mind spilled out of her overly provoked mouth before she even knew what was happening, the results sure to be disastrous.

Snape advanced at her like wildfire. Hermione barely had time to breathe, let alone to reach for her wand as his large hands collided with her shoulders and shoved her roughly into the wall, pinning her there; the stone was solid this time. He was so close to her; she could feel his breath on her face as he practically panted, catching his breath.

"_How—dare—you..."_ he growled in a most deadly tone of voice it gave Hermione a shudder. "_How dare you call me coward?" _His grip was painfully tight; one hand dangerously close to her throat, the other holding her arm to the cold wall.

This was it; she knew it. She knew it was all over now...he was going to kill her because she'd pushed him too far. Hermione closed her eyes, trying to swallow but found it quite difficult. She was breathing just as hard as he was, but for a different reason.

For a long time, Snape said nothing, only kept her trapped against the wall, seeming to be contemplating what to do with her.

Hermione finally opened her eyes, only to see Snape watching her. Her eyes rested in his own for a few long moments.

It was something he had certainly never felt before: there was a locking sensation there when their eyes both met.

Severus realized that he had never actually _looked _at her. But now, even as he had her pinned against the wall...the result of his outrage and un-wavering temper...there was something about her that suddenly captured him, forcing him to submit to his working mind.

Hermione finally felt the grip he had on her slacken as she continued to seem to be locked in his gaze, now trapped not only by the wall but also by his stare.

It could have just been the light, but Hermione swore she then saw Severus Snape's eyes soften, if only just a little. The time seemed to move so painfully slow; Hermione almost couldn't bear it.

He was still so close to her, his breath could still be felt close to her jaw line. And then, as if by some force of gravity, he seemed to move inches closer to her, never once allowing his eyes to travel away from hers.

Hermione watched him, confusion probably etched in every line of her face, unsure of what was happening.

Then, as if answering her question, he leaned in and without warning, gently touched his lips to hers. When she did not withdraw, he pushed further, coming in full and complete contact with her mouth.

Hermione was shocked and frankly had far too many emotions to decipher, but she returned the kiss, her free hand that she just remembered she had moving up and resting ever so lightly on his elbow as if to confirm that he was indeed there.

When they finally broke apart, he made to move away from her, indicating that he had not meant for something like that to happen and was worried now he'd upset her. But Hermione reached out and grabbed hold of his robes, pulling him back to her with such force, he crushed up against her it hurt slightly, but she ignored it, taking in his embrace again, this time holding on for dear life as some unknown and buried feeling made itself up to the surface for the first time.

This time when they broke, Hermione did not open her eyes; fearful of what expression he might be holding. Her heart was pounding, her mind racing, unable to hold a clear thought for more than a few seconds. What on Earth just happened? She was stunned at both him and herself, not knowing words to say to fill in the blanks, what had prompted such a gesture between them.

"I think—um..." Hermione started, but she couldn't even complete a sentence in that moment.

"I shall leave you to your thoughts," he whispered slowly in her ear in a tone which she couldn't decipher as she felt a space come between where he had been against her own body. Hermione allowed her eyes to open only after she could hear his footsteps on the other side of the room. She had to say something, anything. She was so confused, but yet knew full well what she'd done at the same time.

"Um...Sir...uh, profess—what do you want me to call..." she finally just gave up with a heavy sigh, not knowing how to address him after such an...exchange.

"Severus," he finished for her.

Hermione looked at him half suspiciously across the room for a moment, as if expecting him to nearly strangle her again after he realized he'd just given her permission to use his given name. Finally though, she just nodded once. With that, Severus returned the nod and moved swiftly up the stairs and out of sight, trying hard to conceal the pleasure in his face.

"What have you just done, man?" Severus asked himself aloud into the darkness. He was quite uncertain of what had just happened down in the sitting room...actually, he was quite unsure of the last couple of days to be exact, but what had just occurred downstairs was beyond anything he'd imagined.

_She can't possibly want someone like you_, the tiny voice in the back of his mind sneered at him. _Just look at yourself! Broken, torn...she surely hates you...after all, look at what you've done..._

Severus shook his head to rid it of his subconscious. It was nonsense, all of it. He knew better...all that had been was adrenaline. Besides, he had practically strangled her moments earlier; that was a major factor in his complete disbelief of what had happened.

But it did happen...he had to keep reminding himself of that. And what would tomorrow bring? He already knew that he wouldn't have a clue what to say if they confronted each other...

Would she?

More importantly still, what was she thinking of him now? She clearly hadn't been expecting it...that was certain, but something about the way she returned it made him wonder if she had possibly been ok with the whole situation.

That first time he broke away from her, he knew he should leave as quickly as possible because it had surely been a mistake.

But then she pulled him back.

Severus sighed and lay back on his bed, not even bothering to undress or get under the sheets. He had to think.

His thoughts brought him all the way into what was always promised to be a harsh, restless sleep.


	6. New Feelings

Something quite unfamiliar jolted Severus out of his sleep the next, what he bitterly assumed was morning. A light, gentle touch of a hand was felt near his face, but he already could guess whom it belonged to.

Opening one eye lazily, he came into view with the sight he already knew would be there. Hermione let out a soft gasp and pulled her hand away from where she'd been moving his hair from his face as Severus slowly opened both eyes.

Besides being far too lethargic to create an outburst, Severus found that the longer he allowed himself to gaze at her soft, unblemished face, surrounded by delicate brown curls, the more he realized that an outburst would not come.

Instead, he decided upon skirting around it with a bored voice: "And you're doing what, exactly?" He only half glared up at her, more with an uninterested, annoyed expression than anything else, suggesting that he was sleepy...not in the least bit prepared for any sort of conversation.

It took Hermione a moment to answer him, her thoughts tangled in a big mess which made it quite difficult to understand.

She had actually never had an intention of touching him by any means when she came up here in the first place. But she found when she arrived something couldn't quite allow her to keep her hands to herself...to put it into child's terms.

The man looked so peaceful when he was asleep. She found it incredibly hard to restrain her hand to move up to his strand of black hair and push it away from his face.

"Sorry," she muttered in what sounded like a whisper, looking down at her hands in her lap after finally making her mind move her mouth and vocal chords. "It's just, I..." she started, but already knew that she really had no explanation to her being there...not one that he would likely believe anyways.

"I should just go," she finally just said with a heavy sigh in frustration at herself.

"Do not insult my intelligence, Hermione," Severus said suddenly as she started to get to her feet from the edge of the bed where she'd been sitting. (How she'd possibly dared herself to do _that_, she was amazed.) "What are you doing here?"

It had startled her to hear him use her given name, but she stayed seated, waiting once again for the words to get out of her blasted mouth.

She sighed and looked back at her hands. "I was unsure...after last night...it just happened so fast..." It was all she could say. The rest of the words to complete actual sentences were in her head, but somehow she just couldn't get them to come out of her mouth, which was potentially a problem.

"Ah, so you regret it then?" Severus asked in the same tone, but raising one eyebrow slightly in questioning. Hermione's eyes quickly snapped back to him.

"Do you?"

A moment of silence passed between them before he answered.

"I did not mean for it to happen," he started with some thoughtfulness, trailing off slightly. Hermione's heart sunk slightly at these words and she looked away again, accepting that it had all just been in the moment; he meant nothing by it.

"...I do not, however, regret it," he finished, causing Hermione to look back to him once again. The expression he wore was unreadable, mostly because she was at an angle to him and also because it was so vague. But she could have sworn he wore the tiniest shadow of a grin...but then, she could just be imagining that.

Thinking to herself, she gazed across the room for what might have been several minutes. She nervously drummed her fingers on the edge of the mattress, unsure of what was to happen next.

A hand closing slightly above her wrist caused her thoughts to break again.

With one, swift motion, Severus pulled her down very close to him and held her there by the arm so that they were only inches away...again.

Hermione felt her heart speed up under her chest as they gazed at each other with both unknowing and certainty at the same time. It took what had just become the longest minute of Hermione's life for the gap to cease to exist between them and to once again feel his body against her own.

Hermione ignored the painful grip that held her arm in contact with his chest. Severus' other hand came up and rested gently on the side of her head as they continued to kiss more deeply than the night before.

When she finally needed to breathe, Hermione pulled away slightly, feeling his lips break into a slight smile against hers as she did so, which he quickly hid when she opened her eyes to look at him with a questioning expression as if to ask what on Earth that had been?

"Now _that,_" Severus said in a voice Hermione hadn't heard from him before. "I did intend to happen."

The next few days went by as a complete blur to Hermione. She was uncertain of what was happening but somewhere deep in the most hidden folds of her mind, she knew she was starting have feelings for this man who she now found she trusted.

She also could tell that things were definitely changing between them.

Hermione knew it was slightly absurd, that it might even be crazy that one could even develop any sort of kind feelings for a person who had done nothing but make her life miserable for the past seven years. But looking past that, looking pastthis wall he'd put up against the world, she saw more, and that was what seemed to be making these feelings come to the surface.

In fact, they had always been there, this she also had realized. She had come to terms with the fact that she had always admired him somehow for his work and intelligence, also knowing that they actually had much in common. She realized, while the two of them could probably argue all day, in time they would both come to see just how much they were alike.

Nothing more had been said on the subject of meeting Neville in the kitchens. Severus had let the matter rest for the time being but Hermione was still thinking about it. She was also worried that because of it, Severus was giving Neville a harder time than usual during class.

Hermione thought briefly of bringing it up one night while eating supper but thought better of it after Severus had stalked in to the rooms, looking quite upset about something and in no mood to start an argument.

"Hard day?" she asked innocently and pouring over her soup when he shot her a glare from across the room. But it wasn't very intimidating, as he did seem to look very worn indeed. It was actually more of an accepting and annoyed look that told Hermione that Severus had in fact had a trying day.

Before, she probably wouldn't have cared...she might have even been happy for his frustration. But now, seeing as circumstances had...changed...Hermione was curious, if not a little worried at what was troubling him.

"Your friends infuriate me," Severus growled as he sat down heavily opposite of her. Hermione felt a slight wave of relief and shook her head, smirking slightly.

"And you find this amusing do you," Severus asked, sounding scandalized that she was practically laughing at him.

She straightened her face with some difficulty before looking up at him and saying, "did you ever stop to think that maybe it's because they're trying to overthrow you as Headmaster?" Hermione said it in such a sweet, innocent tone she thought Severus would be even more annoyed with her and the whole situation. But he only gave her an exasperated look, his eyebrows raised as if to tell her to stop pushing her luck.

It clearly had not been what he wanted to hear and it took all Hermione had to keep a smirk from creeping onto her face.

Rolling her eyes again and shaking her head, she sighed quietly and tried to look at him seriously.

"Ok, what did they do?" she asked in a tone suggesting he was overreacting about the whole thing.

"Never mind..." Severus grumbled as he roughly forked a carrot on the plate in front of him.

_Fine, if you're too embarrassed at what they've done to you..._

That did it.

"I am _not _embarrassed," he said defensively in a low voice that would have been angry-sounding were he not in the process of chewing a carrot. Clearly, she'd hit a nerve, which surprisingly made her smile slightly. ...Or perhaps it was just the way he sounded when he was trying to defend himself, and with his mouth full nonetheless.

"You know," Hermione said cautiously after a few moments of silence, "I could talk to them...tell them about, well, you know...everything." She waited. Severus was staring at the table. Finally he looked up at her.

"No."

She gave him a questioning look.

"I will not let it be me who allows you to commit suicide," he said seriously.

"They would never tell any—"

"Let me remind you this is a time of war...between magical beings, no less. In case you forgot, there _are_ such things as truth potions. Not to mention the Imperious Curse...the Cruciatis Curse..." He let it trail off with an annoyingly obvious tone. "Believe me when I say that Death Eaters will not hesitate to use any of them if they are the least bit suspicious someone is holding a secret containing information on whereabouts of a Mudblood."

Hermione found herself slightly shocked at what he'd just said.

"That's an interesting way to tell someone you care about them," she said plainly, looking up at him with a slightly raised brow.

"Yes, well..." Severus said, brushing off her statement slightly. "Regardless, I feel you shall be safest if your presence here is," he paused, "unknown."

"But then there's Longbottom," he added with extreme disdain, answering Hermione's unasked question. He also sounded quite annoyed at the subject, telling Hermione that he was still upset by the whole incident.

As she watched him, Severus seemed to be thinking to himself, which made her slightly uncomfortable but she tried to ignore it.

"But that, I suppose, I will address in the morning..." he sad decisively, nodding a little and going back to eating his supper.

That didn't make Hermione feel any more settled on the subject, but she dropped it...for now.

It had become almost a routine now for the two of them to read by the fire after eating. Normally, they sat in opposite chairs, but Hermione was feeling brave tonight...not to mention she was determined to figure out just what was happening between them.

After picking up her book, she silently and casually walked over the couch where Severus was seated, close to one end, seeming immersed in his book. Biting her lip indecisively, she finally sat down on the couch, but deciding to make it so there was a significant distance between them.

Severus slightly glanced at her sideways but made no other movements, so she opened her book and began reading.

A slight shift of position towards her caught her eye. Severus, who had been leaning against the arm of the couch, seemed to have shifted so he was leaning more slightly towards her direction.

But it was minimal. After a few more minutes had passed, Hermione repositioned herself to "satisfy a kink in her calf" a few small inches to her right, closer to his side, making them only a foot or so apart now.

She saw his eyebrows go up just ever so much out of the corner of her eye and quickly resumed reading, trying to hide a smirk as she thought she saw him glance over.

Again, he shifted very slightly.

So did she.

Now it was close. Only inches more and they would be touching. Hermione found her heart had sped up against her will again. She wasn't reading anymore, just staring at the page, her eyes unmoving...waiting.

Finally, simultaneously, they both turned to each other and collided quickly but in the gentlest of ways. He took her lips to his with such calm ferociousness it startled her somewhat but all was forgotten within moments as she became lost in his touch.

Severus put his hand up to the side of her head, holding it there softly; her hands holding onto his robes, pulling him toward her, keeping him as close as possible.

Hermione leaned backwards, Severus following to keep in close contact with her as she lay back, now finding one of her hands had moved to the back of his head giving him the signal to keep going. He moved off of her lips and placed a single kiss on her jaw before leaving a trail of lingering kisses down her neck, all the way to her collarbone.

Hermione tilted her head back slightly to allow him better access as he moved along, slowly going up and then back down, only using the lightest pressure wherever he kissed her, knowing it would slowly drive her mad to have such contact and then take it away so quickly.

And it certainly did.

To see a man like him being so passionate was startling enough to her, but she was again lost for words or a thought, coming back to life when Severus moved back to her mouth, claiming power over her, not yielding in the slightest.

After a time, they just laid there together in the quiet of the evening and watched the fire go down. Severus held her from behind her around the middle, his hand resting face every so often.

Hermione curled up against him, holding onto the hand that was over her, wondering slightly how she ever had come to be in this time and place and knowing that she felt home; she never wanted to leave.

It was near one o'clock when the ashes glowed in the hearth for the last time and Hermione drifted out of consciousness and into a peaceful slumber, feeling Severus' chest rise and fall slowly telling her that he had already beat her to sleep.


	7. My Restless Mind

A beam of sunlight lay on the floor in front of the couch the next morning where Hermione and Severus still were, laying close to each other. Hermione was awake, but only slightly, and watched the glittering ray for a long while, finding herself unwilling to stir and break this peace between the two of them.

She wanted to make a memory of this time to ensure herself it never faded because she was, in fact, almost as happy and peaceful as she'd ever been. That in mind, she breathed in the smell of the air, his scent, the feel of his course wool robes which covered her from the torso down...all of it; the soft, warm, and slow breath that barely poured over her as he exhaled.

Hermione glanced down with only her eyes to where Severus' hand had limply forgotten itself and lay immobile over her side, his fingers barely brushing her shirt over her stomach.

Her eyes next came upon his other hand, which was around her shoulder somewhat now, haphazardly keeping her close to him but had lost its strength as he'd found sleep. Hermione reached up and lightly started tracing each finger, up and down, as if in a trance.

"That is the first time I've slept the whole night through in...years," came Severus' groggy voice suddenly from behind her. Hermione jumped a little, she hadn't known he'd been awake. She felt him shift slightly and she did too, moving closer against him, huddling her face deeper into where his arm had now taken back a firm hold on her.

"Well," she said, her voice cracking slightly from lack of use, "can't have been because you were sleeping on a couch, can it?" She smiled to herself at her witty remark, knowing full well that the couch was the least of the solution to Severus' insomnia. But she couldn't very well come out and say what she was thinking.

Of course, she didn't have to.

"Well you don't have to gloat over it, now do you?" said Severus after hearing her thoughts about the reason he actually slept for once...her. He sounded teasingly annoyed but he had spoken clearly devoid of his usual, nasty tone, making Hermione smile all the more.

"Oh, what you do to me..." he sighed in a slow whisper very close to her ear, shooting a shiver down her spine as she closed her eyes, feeling him staying closer to her, placing a single kiss on the side of her temple.

She hadn't noticed at first, but now that she looked down again, she realized that he had taken her hand in his, intertwining their fingers, seeming to be holding her even tighter than before.

Slowly and without warning, Severus leaned in completely and laid one shuddering kiss on the side of her neck. Hermione took in a breath as he did, trying not to let a sound escape her throat as he used his hand that had been across her stomach to push her shirt away from her shoulder to allow himself better access while he ventured down to the base of her neck.

Hermione lifted her head again as he started back up the neck but filled with every emotion possible as the two of them met at the mouth, a good morning kiss to envy all others ever experienced by any person ever.

She rolled over on her back so she could properly see him as they broke apart and smiled up at him, surprised when she saw _his_ face break into the shadow of a smile as well. She raised an eyebrow at him, and then continued to just gaze into his eyes, locked there once again with no hope of leaving that most wonderful place.

More time passed as Hermione began to move her eyes, searching his face for a trace of any emotion...something to tell her what he was thinking. She, of course, found nothing and had expected it, but something told her that Severus was finding all he wanted to know about _her. _

It didn't really bother her; she wanted him to know everything. All she felt: her love, desire, every feeling. Even the trust she had developed, knowing that there had really been a reason, a purpose, for all that had been done...and what was happening now.

Quiet, subdued realization fell onto Severus' face...then understanding and acceptance. He was glad of her trust; it was some of the only trust he had experienced in a long time. There was so much he wanted to say right then, but unknowing of how to make it come out of his mouth.

_God man, what is wrong with you? She's turning you into a sap...but you love it. _

He smiled to himself and then let a quick smile grace his face, causing a slightly surprised expression to come onto Hermione's.

"You know," she said softly, breaking the silence, "you look so much better when you smile." He scoffed incredulously. She slowly traced her index finger along his jaw line, dragging it lightly down to his chest grinning almost deviously when he swallowed as it went over his throat.

Severus looked down at her with only his eyes, brow raised slightly at how she'd just touched him. But he knew he didn't care anymore. If it had been anyone else, he'd have cursed them straight into next week, but her...he knew she was now nestled into a special place in his heart, a place he hadn't realized he still possessed.

Only the clock's very loud chime of eight startled them both out of their thoughts, reality setting in as Hermione started to rise, knowing the Headmaster would indeed be missed at breakfast, no matter how much they wanted rid of him.

Severus reluctantly allowed her to rise, thinking briefly of pulling her back down to him but knew she was right.

Hermione stayed sitting on the couch as she watched Severus stand up and go upstairs, coming down moments later looking only half-refreshed but slightly better than usual...the work of a good night's sleep.

She quirked a faint smile as he went past her, his eyes jumping in her direction for a moment as he crossed to the door. He stopped, resting his hand on the knob, and turned around towards her where she had now drawn her knees up to her chest and was looking at him, her head tilted at an angle, a completely innocent and serene look about her.

It warmed him to see her lightly smiling at him...of course, he would never share that out loud...

"I'll have the elves send breakfast to the office," he said in almost his normal voice. Hermione nodded, then waited for him to speak again.

"Until tonight then..." he said with one raised eyebrow, a faint smirk coming onto his face as he took one last look at her beautiful face, turned and left the room.

"Until tonight." She stated quietly after he'd left the room, feeling as though her nerves would burst at any second.

Severus could barely eat his breakfast as he sat there in the Great Hall, his mind rushing all over the place, thinking of what had been happening in the last few days between him and Hermione.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't realized Minerva was watching him, trying to figure out exactly what was going on in his mind.

Minerva was realistic about things; she knew Severus had been the one who cast the spell which killed Albus and that he was now considered the right hand man by Voldemort himself, but beyond that, she too had trusted him and part of her still continued to do so.

In fact, it was most of her. For months now, she had been trying to convince herself that it had all been in Albus' "grand plan" and she had succeeded partially to a point. However, it was the fact that Severus now controlled the school.

_How ironic..._she thought, still glancing over at Severus periodically, watching him as he seemed to be struggling with something in his very battered mind.

She had watched Severus as a boy, being a student at Hogwarts, then into his adult life, which he was thrown into prematurely by the joining the Dark side. Even though it had ultimately been his choice, she knew it was more than what it seemed which had _pushed_ him to become a Death Eater in the first place.

Minerva continued to watch him, knowing that she would only have a few moments before being detected because he was so paranoid. Finally, she had to hastily look away because he inevitably saw her and scowled at her.

_What is going on in that mind of yours, Minerva?_ He thought, shaking his head and returning to his breakfast. He figured there had to be part of her that still believed that he hadn't really betrayed them all, but he was not certain and so made every attempt to avoid the old witch, making certain he wouldn't be faced with answering any questions she might have.

Severus glanced up ahead of him momentarily and looked out onto the whole hall where students were sitting, chatting over their porridge. His eyes swept the place until they rested on the only face looking, no _glaring_ in his direction: Longbottom.

He sighed heavily and shook his head again as Longbottom too looked away like Minerva had, except he removed his gaze slowly, normally, as if thinking.

Severus was sure that he hadn't heard the end of Neville Longbottom in the subject of the altercation in the kitchens. But he had to make certain the idiot wouldn't say a word of Hermione's presence in the castle. If he did...Severus suppressed a shudder at the thought of the now Death Eater-controlled ministry hauling her away if they found her.

As breakfast ended and the students all filed off tot their lessons, Severus sighed to himself before arising as well and making his way to his wretched class of second year Defense Against the Dark Arts.

To serve to worsen his mood, it was a double period and that only meant more idiot answers from the thickheaded students who seemed like they were unable to learn anything at all.

The only good thing about teaching the younger ones was the pure look of fear that met his eyes every time he dramatically walked into the room to start class. It was one of his favorite parts about teaching...

Although, as he entered the classroom, he caught sight of a Ravenclaw girl who had very bushy brown hair, his thoughts fleetingly jumped to Hermione who was upstairs. Startling himself slightly, he shook his head of the thought and continued on his way to the front of the classroom.

This certainly was going to be an interesting day. Not only because his mind could not stay in one place...

But because his mark had started to burn.


	8. Walls Can Be Broken

Hermione paced the rooms for what could have been hours as every possibility ran through her head as to Severus' whereabouts.

She distractedly glanced up at the clock; it read 10:15PM and she was now at worrying point. At first, she had been upset at him, thinking he just didn't inform her of his plans. But then she told herself that she knew if the man left her a note to tell her to drink a simple potion, he would at least have the courtesy to let her know where he was going to be.

It then occurred to her that perhaps it had not been intentional. _Maybe something's happened..._she thought, beginning to feel slightly panicked at the thought of something bad happening to him; now that she knew there were feelings there, she couldn't bear to think what she would do if he was hurt...or worse.

_He can take care of himself though...he doesn't need _me_ all worried about him and all. _

Hermione had to keep reasoning to herself for hours into the night to keep from leaving the office and finding out what was going on.

After several more hours with no sign of Severus at all, Hermione finally told herself that worrying would only make her feel worse, so she tried to push it to the back of her mind at she reluctantly dozed off in the same place as the previous night...only this time, she was alone./

_Keep going...keep...going...almost back. _

_No...just stop here...no one will care..._

_Hermione will care._

_She's probably glad you're gone, you old fool._

_She might be worried..._

_Impossible._

_More impossible things have happened...Just get up there...too close to stop now..._

_You wont make it...too much pain._

_It's been worse._

_It's been worse... /_

Hermione was suddenly jolted awake by what could be called a disturbance in the next room. She sat straight up on the couch, trying to catch her breath as her heart began to race.

Cautiously and quietly, she got up and walked towards the door, straining to hear what was happening on the other side. But she heard nothing.

Trying to control her breathing, Hermione finally decided that she would just steal a quick look into the main office, just to make certain. She slowly turned the door knob and was starting to open the door when it pushed open and she was knocked over by something falling into her...or rather someone...

When she recomposed herself, she looked down at the heap in her arms that was Severus. She swore her heart missed a beat, as all she could do was stare at him. When she finally came to her own senses, she lit the room with her wand and looked down again.

Severus was definitely not ok...a large gash was openly pouring blood down his face, bruises were already starting to form around his eyes and what looked to be everywhere else skin was visible. Hermione couldn't think of anything to do; she was at a loss for words and her arms felt like lead as she just sat there and held him, a tear finding its way down her cheek, spilling onto her trembling hand that held Severus' head.

"_Hermione..._" came an unfamiliar voice from his mouth. Startled, Hermione looked down. She didn't think the tone of voice he just used was even possible from him. But it had come from his mouth.

He wasn't totally conscious, but he was at least semi-coherent and that made all of the difference to Hermione.

"What happened to you," she finally managed to croak out as she looked down on him, gently pushing the blood-soaked hair away from his face. But he didn't answer. Only a painful groan escaped his throat before he slipped away again, back into unconsciousness.

At least he had made it back to his office.

And more importantly, back into her arms.

--

"How are you feeling," Hermione asked when she finally noticed his eyes give a little twitch before opening partially.

It took Severus a few moments to realize where he was, who was talking, and why there was such a horrible pain in his head.

_Him._

It had been a long time since the Dark Lord had punished him that bad for a failure of orders, but he supposed to himself that at least those who hated him at the school could take more pleasure in his pain now...except for now, there was Hermione. He knew she would be worried about him...that was probably what had willed him to get up that staircase in the first place. Had she not been a part of him now, he had a good feeling giving up would have been the first choice.

"_Hermione..."_ he managed to croak out again. Hermione could only smile down sadly at him, pushing away more hair from his face.

There was no denying that she was relieved to see him at least awake now. She had not left his side for the past day now as she hoped and prayed that something would help him out of this...and it did.

Severus remembered the question after a time of silence, "I've been better, I suppose," he said groggily, moving his head to the side and looking away before his eyes moved back up to hers.

Hermione didn't know what to say to him. Her mind was running at a ridiculously fast pace. The fact was that she had somehow felt that something had indeed gone wrong when he had not returned. All of those hours she paced the rooms, knowing simple business was not what kept the man from coming back. It gave her a feeling she had not yet experienced to know that now she did care. And so did he.

She was pushed out of her thoughts by Severus' attempt to rise.

"Where are you going?" she said, startled that he could even move.

Severus did his best to not let a painful groan escape his throat and he held his breath as every nerve in his body screamed at him to stay put. But he couldn't, he knew he couldn't. He also knew that Hermione wouldn't understand and so he chose not to answer, which was probably stupid on his part, but he ignored every protesting feeling and pushed on to get up out of his bed.

"Hey," Hermione said a little more forcefully when Severus did not answer her and continued to rise from the bed. He only glanced partially with one eye; brow slightly raised, but still said nothing.

"You can't leave!" She continued. "You're hurt, are you insane? Where are you going?" She repeated, feeling a bit frantic now.

Severus heaved a sigh, mostly to relieve the screaming pain, and poised himself on the edge of the mattress, ready to stand up. He, of course, knew he'd have a hard time of it with Hermione right there.

Without looking at her, he finally answered, "You wouldn't understand." Hermione gave him an incredulous look. "It's complicated," he added when he caught her half glare, half startled and scandalized look.

But this did little to calm Hermione in the least.

"Complicated? Really..." She said in a decisive sounding yet deadly tone, which certainly caught his attention. "And you think I wouldn't understand..._complicated_, do you...?

"Well, let me tell you something Severus Snape," she said, suddenly getting in his face, pointing a finger at him. "I understand complicated very well, I'd say, seeing as for the past five months I have been only _God_ knows where, running from the ministry and Death Eaters, and as if that isn't enough, I don't think anything says complicated better than what is happening between us right now."

She had not meant to say it, but it flew out of her mouth uncontrollably and now all she could do was inhale quickly, surprised at her own idiotic choice of topic change.

Severus' raised brow became more pronounced at her statement and slight outburst. He had expected it, yes, but he hadn't thought she would bring anything up about _them _and now he was backed into a corner.

Hermione waited in tentative silence, praying Severus would be the first to speak.

"You find this complicated?" He finally said, breaking the silence between them, not taking his eyes from hers.

Hermione just held his eyes for a few moments, a slightly confused look in her own eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she just gave a series of the smallest of nods, wondering where this would take them.

A thoughtful look graced Severus' face at her confirmation. He too found the subject of "them" a complicated affair, but he obviously had had no experience in this particular field of life and had no clue of how to go about discussing it.

All had been forgotten about his leaving; now every thought encircled the two of them, their confused minds, and the unanswered question of what lay ahead.

Hermione had been able to successfully keep Severus from leaving for at least the remainder of the night. She had refused herself departure in the fear that he might get out when she wasn't around.

Severus, never one to actually fall asleep, knew she was sitting there through the layers of light sleep, right next to him. Opening his eyes a fraction of an inch, he noticed her hand lying limply on the mattress next to him. Looking up with one eye, he saw her head hanging slightly, telling him that she had finally fallen asleep.

Although it caused him a great deal of pain to do so, Severus made his hand move up to hers, covering it. He breathed in at the touch of her soft skin, closing his eyes once again, feeling more comforted now.

Slightly, Hermione's fingers twitched under his and he opened an eye again. Her eyes were still closed, but her expression had changed from deep sleep to semi-consciousness and wondering, then to understanding and ease. Closing his eyes, he settled back into sleep again with a slight grin on his face.

Hermione felt him touch her hand and was barely wakened by it but somewhere within her consciousness, she did feel it. She was slightly surprised; Severus didn't seem the type to just openly give affection, no matter how small and subtle it was.

_But the way he kissed you the other night..._

Hermione smiled to herself and finally allowed her eyes to open, squinting a little at the light that poured into them from the opposite window. Her gaze fell onto him, just lying there, looking so peaceful.

_He really does look so much younger without trying to be so angry,_ she thought as she just simply watched him for a time, allowing her mind to wander, thinking of things like what would come of all of this? And would it even last?

Finally, after a time, Hermione reluctantly disengaged her hand from underneath his, quietly stood up, and made her way to the door. After taking one final glance at the still-sleeping man across the room, she smiled slightly and left.

She went downstairs, fully intending on finding some breakfast because she was starting to feel sick from lack of food. After pacing the room a good portion of the night, she never pushed aside worry for hunger satisfaction and had been occupied with keeping Severus from escaping for the remainder of the night.

She found getting something to eat proved difficult however, because she saw no safe way to go down into the kitchens without the risk of someone being there other than the house elves.

Finally, she just decided she would be very cautious and go down there, make sure the coast was clear, and get her breakfast and be out quickly.

Slowly, Hermione began to run her hands along the wall where she thought she remembered the stairs to be. It didn't take long before instead of running over it, her hands fell through the wall and she took a step forward and found herself once again in the secret passageway to the kitchens.

At the bottom of the stairs, Hermione could see the elves bustling away, but no sign of anything human and so with relief, she descended the remainder of the stairs and stepped into the kitchen, rich with its smell of breakfast.

She found where the extra portions were sitting on a table up against the opposite wall and picked up a few things before going back upstairs, immensely thankful for the elves' tendency to make much more food than needed.

"Where have you been," Severus asked, startling her as she came back into the room and found him already up and sitting in an armchair, an only half irritated look on his face.

"How did you get down here...alone?" Hermione asked, jumping when he addressed her. _I was only gone a few minutes! God, even injured he's fast! _

Severus only rolled his eyes in response as if it were an easy feat to accomplish after almost dying.

"I believe I asked you a question," he countered, not sounding upset, but to her surprise, slightly worried.

"Oh, did you miss me," she asked jokingly, setting down the food she was holding and crossing her arms, grinning slightly.

"No."

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"I thought maybe you..." _Oh just tell her..._ "I thought maybe you left," he finished a little more quickly than probably intended.

Hermione wasn't sure of what to say to that. He had been worried that she'd left? What did that mean? She studied him, watching his facial expression, trying to find something...some hint, a detection of his true feelings. But he only looked at her, his expression screaming the truth.

She sighed as he finally looked away, seeming to find the fabric on the chair very interesting.

_That was a sure way to her heart...she probably thinks you the most idiotic person she's ever met now! What is she doing to me? Since when do you care about where she goes?_

_Well that's obvious. You care for her. _

Severus looked sideways at her when she approached him but didn't look up all the way. He was slightly embarrassed with himself, not that he would admit that though...but still, he never dealt with things like this before, let alone with women.

Timidly, Hermione stood next to his chair and looked at him with an intense gaze, still trying to figure him out. She had many things that she wanted to say, but she wasn't sure how to get them out. For what seemed like ages, there was silence between them and neither of them moved, each afraid of what the other was going to say.

"Did you mean it," Hermione finally said, breaking the silence. Severus didn't move except for a nod of the head as he stared straight ahead, unwilling to look up at her, afraid of what her eyes would tell him.

He could hear how her voice demanded an answer, but yet remained calm, only wanting him to be straight with her...that much he could at least feel.

And he _wanted _to be...the trouble only was, he didn't really know how what with being a spy for the majority of his life and constantly having to be untruthful with most everyone he came in contact with.

_Albus had been the only one who knew your sad truth..._he thought with venomous regret, shaking his head slightly to himself.

And now...now he was beginning to be truthful with the "insufferable know-it-all" who was seeming to slowly become more than that...more than what he had always seen her. Or rather, hadn't seen her. But it was definitely a new light, and even though he wanted to see it, he was having a hard time figuring out how to do just that.

Of course, the fact remained now that Hermione was waiting for an answer...or _answers_ even. Some, which he could unfortunately not give her right away for the reality that he didn't seem to know them either.

Severus then jumped slightly when a light touch was felt on his right forearm. He glanced down with only his eyes, surprised to find Hermione's hand there. He didn't know what to do; he looked towards her more with a slight turn of the head, watching her crouched down next the chair, watching her hand there on his arm in a comforting way.

Hermione looked up sadly at him, unknowing of what was driving her to touch him like that, but something inside told her he probably was in need of some comfort, as he looked to be fighting an unseen battle, an internal war raging inside of himself.

Slowly, as if by some unseen force, Severus' hand seemed to make its way to Hermione's face, touching her cheek lightly. His face was unreadable; simply looking at her face, seeing how the pitying expression had not left it, despite how he had just touched her.

It was in this moment that Severus actually realized something: feelings had somehow seemed to develop for this girl...woman before him. Since when had she been anything more than the bushy-haired know-it-all that seemed attached to Potter and Weasley by the hip, he wondered to himself.

And he was quite sure she was returning these feelings.

Hermione watched him, a slightly sad look set upon her face as she watched the man struggle with every internal feeling it seemed possible. She never let her eyes leave his when he finally looked up and did nothing but blink when he touched her face knowing it must have put him slightly at ease because she watched his face soften ever so slightly

Slowly, she stood up, Severus' hand hanging there for a moment in the air at the place where her face had just been. He stared down as Hermione rose to her feet and then put out a knowing hand for him to take to get up as well.

It seemed an eternity that Severus stared at it. Hermione still didn't know what she was doing, it just seemed...right.

Severus finally took her dainty hand, decisively, finalizing it all, allowing her to pull him to his feet which he did whilst trying to stifle a groan of pain. He failed miserably and fell back down to his seat. Hermione was still hanging on, and unfortunately for bad positioning, fell with him and landed right on his most aggravating injuries.

_Bright side,_ Severus thought to himself,_ she's close to you again..._

"I'll go get you a pain potion," Hermione barely whispered out, for she had lost her breath in falling to close to him. They were only inches apart from each other's faces; breaths could be felt on both sides, their stomachs were suddenly filled with a whole bunch of butterflies.

Severus could barely speak either and found that his protest for a painkiller came too late as she was already away from him and through the door to the main office.

Wincing and holding his breath, Severus got up and followed her, suppressing every feeling in his body, determined to not let it bother him. The only thing he hated more than anything else was a pain potion. He did _not_ want to be viewed as...soft.

"What are you doing," Hermione all but scolded when she heard him enter the room. "You shouldn't be walking around!"

Any other time, Severus knew if that came out of someone's mouth, he would immediately come down on them for disrespect...he certainly would not be spoken to like a child. But he found that while looking at Hermione and that she was obviously very worried, he said nothing.

Almost instantly, she was in front of him guiding him into his desk chair, obviously feeling it would be too far to get back to the living quarters right at that moment.

Feeling like his dignity was starting to slip away, nonetheless he let her lead him to the chair. But what she didn't expect was for him to pull her down with him...on purpose this time.

He didn't care if his whole body screamed in protest, having her close to him was what seemed to matter at that moment and he would re-open every wound he'd ever possessed to hold her like this.

Hermione was shocked to say the least. She was about to protest and perhaps scold him but Severus cut her off by swiftly taking her lips to his own, claiming her once again.

Severus felt her breath in sharply in surprise at his sudden move, but after the initial shock wore away, Hermione shifted so she was closer to him, now practically on his lap completely, and kissed him deeper, her fists balled around the fabric of his robes near his shoulders as so not to fall. She couldn't breathe but that wasn't stopping either of them. There was an urgency coming from the both of them and it only drove them with a passion deeper than ever before; a passion that was seeming to be released after being held back for so long.

Severus was so completely lost in Hermione and the way she was kissing him with such fire, he had almost let his guard down completely, not alerting him to a presence growing closer to the office.

It was too late by the time Minerva's sharp intake of shocked breath reached his ears as the door opened, revealing her shocked face.


	9. More Than it Seems

Hermione jumped so badly from shock and in trying to turn around too quickly, fell sideways off of Severus' lap, landing hard on the ground with a _thud_.

Severus took a sharp breath at the sudden change of weight on his injured legs where all of the feeling...all of the pain was all coming back now. Inwardly, he cursed McGonagall and himself for not paying better attention as he sideways glanced down to Hermione who was vainly trying to look like nothing had happened.

She was worried. He could feel it pouring out of her like a fountain. She, of course, had right to be...seeing as Minerva had just seen them practically all over each other.

Severus had never actually been at a loss for words before...except for now, that was. His mind was racing at an alarming pace trying to think of something to say; anything that would explain what she had just seen that would be a hair shy of the truth. Obviously, nothing was coming to mind except the glaring truth that he was...he swallowed hard...falling in love.

It took Minerva a few moments of stunned silence before she could even find her voice. She was telling herself she _did not_ just see that...it was impossible...but of course, her other side told her better.

But before Minerva could force words out of her mouth, Hermione spoke up in the most nervous voice Minerva had ever heard from her, although the young witch was doing well to hide it.

"Pr-professor..." Hermione said, swallowing, trying to push her obvious anxiety to the back of her mind, hoping it did not all show in her face. But what do you say to a person who just walked in a scene like this? She figured she had two obvious options: concoct a very good lie...or tell the truth. The glaring, observable truth...something Hermione figured Minerva McGonagall would not take in the best way.

"Miss Granger," McGonagall all but stuttered, clearly unable to think straight right away. "What on earth—" The older witch opened and closed her mouth several times, but nothing came out. She pursed her lips tightly in true McGonagall fashion and just stared in the guilty party's direction, as if awaiting and demanding an explanation.

Hermione nervously glanced in Severus' direction very briefly but only received the shadow of a raised eyebrow, which she found she could not interpret. What she could see was frustration. Not anger, no, although it was slightly there, but only a trained eye could tell the difference. He too seemed to be thinking very fast indeed.

_This will not end well..._Hermione thought, shaking her head slightly in hopelessness. _Unless..._

She had a sudden thought and her eyes jumped to the waiting professor who was looking even more irked and impatient now at the lack of information coming her way.

Hermione knew Severus would not like this one bit, but how else was she to explain what McGonagall had just seen? Or at least divert her attention elsewhere...

But before Hermione could speak up at all, McGonagall seemed to find it in her best interest to come to her senses completely.

"Miss Granger, come with me quickly," she said very urgent-sounding and moved towards her, took her arm and starting pulling it along to the door. She obviously had just concluded that Hermione was being held captive and by doing this, she was saving her.

Forgetting all things pertaining to her original plan, Hermione tried to slow the old witch down, glancing back in confusion to Severus' half-stunned face, and in looking back, tried to resist.

"No, professor, please...you don't understand! Wait!" Hermione urged, pulling back and practically digging her feet into the raised cobble stone floor, anything to stop herself from moving. But McGonagall only persisted saying something about getting Hermione out of there when she was clearly bewitched.

That was where Hermione put the breaks on full-force.

"_Bewitched?!" _Both Hermione and Severus exclaimed simultaneously in utter shock. At this, Severus made an attempt to stand and succeeded; only needing to slightly lean on the desk for support.

He was now quite outraged...Minerva first barges in without so much as a knock on the door and now she was making wild accusations of him casting spells on Hermione to do God only knows what...

Hermione had been successful in halting herself behind McGonagall who was jerked back slightly and turned to look at Hermione, obviously trying not to lash out at her.

"Forgive me, Professor McGonagall," she said in a tone she had never used with any teacher. Ever. "But I am_ not_ bewitched!" Hermione stood firmly grounded as she said it, sounding scandalized that her professor would even think something like that.

"It is quite true, Minerva," Severus finally spoke up making both witches jerk to look at his face, deep with anger lines now that he had just been as good as insulted. "You may find me to be a low being, but never so low as to attempt to place spells upon youth for my own," he paused, "...pleasure."

"Are you telling me then," McGonagall said with all the venom in her person, "that what I just walked in on was _genuine_?" She released Hermione's arm to place on her hip, now focusing totally on Severus. Hermione subconsciously backed away slightly, not wishing to be found in the crossfire of an uncalled for duel.

"While we're on the subject of you _walking in_ _on people_," he said in a tone to rival her own, "might I gently remind you of the wonders of knocking on a door..."

"You will not turn this conversation to suit you, Severus," McGonagall retorted angrily. "I came here tonight with the intentions of finding some...explanation for your actions in these past months, hoping something would fall into place for me. But this..." she shook her head, "...this is beyond the lowest I thought you could get."

Hermione knew this was her cue as she watched Severus rear up to retaliate.

"Please, Professor," she said as gently as she possibly could, daring to place a hand on her arm. McGonagall looked down at it, her expression not softening in the slightest.

"Please," Hermione repeated, closing her eyes briefly. _Forgive me, Severus...it's the only way she'll understand all of this..._

"There is something you must see."

Severus' eyes jumped wildly to Hermione when he heard this. _No_, he thought. _No, she cant possibly..._

Pleadingly, Hermione glanced over at Severus whose worried expression was hidden under layers of other emotions, all of them battling for his attention. She knew he didn't want others to see those memories but it was the only way...the only way to make her see the real truth.

_Please, please allow her to see,_ she begged in her mind, knowing he'd hear her. _If not for yourself, then for me...for us._

After an eternity of silence bogging the room, a reluctant flash of understanding and acceptance flashed in Severus' eyes and Hermione finally let the breath out she just realized she had been holding, newfound relief in his permission.

She looked back to McGonagall whose eyes were wildly and curiously jumping from one person to the other, trying to figure out what was going on. She met Hermione's eyes and then nodded, acknowledging the younger witch to show her what she wanted to.

Knowing it would be in bad interest for Severus to go through that entire ordeal again, Hermione only went to the basin herself and after McGonagall appeared at her side, plunged once more into the pensive, knowing it would not be better the second time around.

Hermione stood and watched again, chin up, trying not to cry out with the sadness she was holding inside of her as she observed his worse memories come to life once again. McGonagall said nothing as they watched, but quietly gasped several times, her hand moving to cover her mouth at times.

When the two of them were pulled back out, Hermione straightened up and waited...studying the professor's face for any sign at all...anything that would give her an idea of what was going on inside McGonagall's head.

Minerva almost immediately looked to Severus, a pitying expression very apparent on her face, completely devoid of the hostility she had held before.

"Severus—" she started, but he put up an impatient hand to stop her.

"I need no pity," he growled in a low voice, having known what she was about to say. "What's done is done...and now you know."

She nodded solemnly, and then sighed. "Very well then," she accepted. She looked to Hermione as if calculating. "Shall I assume it is your wish to remain here," she said in a tone that made Hermione feel slightly uncomfortable but she hid it.

"Professor," she started and walked so she was standing slightly in front of Severus as if that was where she knew she belonged. "He saved me," she motioned behind her, "I am safe here, I know that...I don't know what else to tell you. It's all that I know in my heart at least right now."

Hermione instantly cursed herself for her word choice because behind her she could hear a slight sneering sound but as if hurt. She closed her eyes. She had not meant to say it like that but Hermione also had to assume McGonagall would not approve of her true feelings.

After nodding several times and surveying Hermione once more, McGonagall spoke again:

"I shall leave then...perhaps we can all talk about...all of this...sometime in the near future, yes?" Hermione nodded, thinking that would be a very good idea indeed. And with that, McGonagall turned and left with a final nod, the door clicking softly behind her.

Hermione breathed out with a sigh of relief and turned around to face Severus. Only when she did, she turned around to nothing. Momentarily she panicked but shoved it out of her mind as she closed her eyes briefly as she remembered what had just been said. _Idiot, Hermione. _

Severus was standing in the middle of the dark living quarters when Hermione walked in. He didn't move an inch when she softly said his name, her voice full of remorse. "Severus..."

No answer.

"Severus, please," she said moving closer to him and studying his back for any signs of movement. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean it like that." Hermione knew what this was about...what she had just said to McGonagall...it had all just happened so fast.

Getting closer and coming to his side, she reached out and placed her hand on his arm, trying to look up into his face which was obscured with his mass curtain of black hair. Severus barely flinched when she touched him.

"Will you not even allow me to explain," she said sadly wishing he would look at her.

Still, nothing.

Hermione sighed and removed her hand from his arm and turned to leave, but without warning, Severus took hold of her wrist, pulling her back and drawing her straight up to him, his grip painfully tight.

Hermione breathed out with a twinge of pain and looked up into his now-cold eyes, practically glaring down at her.

"Yes..." he drawled slowly. "Please do..." Not a question, it was an order.

Hermione sadly shook her head, mostly to herself. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing was coming out. A grudging face of acceptance came onto Severus' face as he narrowed his eyes. But he did not release her arm, but bent very close so they were only inches apart.

"Tell me," he whispered in a deadly tone, "is it muggle custom to toy with emotions of others?" Hermione shook her head quickly; she was losing her nerve.

"No," she managed to choke out, never looking away from him once, knowing doing so would only make matters worse.

"THEN WHAT IS IT YOU ARE DOING?!" he shouted suddenly, not even bothering to move away from her face. But far from being further intimidated and scared, Hermione's defenses immediately went up.

"Do not shout at me!" she yelled back at him, standing up straighter and trying to release her arm which was an attempt in vain, but she ignored it and got in his face as best she could. "What exactly would you like me to tell you?!" She was angry now...not just at herself, but at him. How could he not understand where she stood?

"The truth. I want the truth. I believe I have been quite straight with you since you have been here...told you my feelings..." he stared her down, surprised when he received the same glare back.

"Oh, you want to know the truth...what on EARTH do you think it is?!"

"You infuriating woman!" Severus yelled, gripping her wrist tighter, getting back in her face. "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking! Now out with it you—"

"I love you—"

"What?"

Hermione let out several deep breaths before she spoke. "You heard me," she said, lowering her voice significantly and looking away from him, staring at the floor. She subconsciously felt the grip on her wrist slacken, but not release completely and Severus take a small step backwards.

Silence followed for several seconds. It had been true, completely and totally true. She had not planned to say it so soon...she wanted time to make sure it wasn't just some fling, some crush, and that he actually returned the feeling. However, she realized that as she said it, it seemed very right...like she had been meant to say it her whole life.

Severus was near dumbfounded. Had she really just told him that? For the second time, he was nearly lost for words. He had heard, but did he believe?

Someone love him? That was a completely new concept to him...he had never intended on finding love, it just did not suit him well...nor his lifestyle. Nonetheless, here was this young woman here standing before him, telling him she was in love with him...and he hadn't a clue what to say.

But who was he kidding? He felt the same, and he knew it.

"Hermione I—I'm," he started very quietly, seeming to have a hard time of it, having completely lost his nerve when she'd suddenly confessed her feelings. Apologies were not this forte. Thankfully, Hermione stopped him.

"Shh," she said gently, reaching up and placing her hand on his cheek, her expression having softened quite a bit. Severus blinked once and looked down at her, straight into her eyes. They both noticed how each other's expressions had softened which came with a wave of comfort.

"It's ok," Hermione continued, "I understand. You don't have to apologize."

_Good. _Thought Severus. Not because he wasn't remorseful, he just couldn't swallow his stupid pride. He knew he would have to work on that if anything with Hermione was going to last at all.

A faint smile crept onto Hermione's face as she looked up at him. He was thinking again...something that she had found was not always a good thing. She wondered what he was planning..._God only knows what goes on in there.._.

Severus only nodded for a moment as he reached up to hold her face gently in his hands, then pulling her as close as humanly possibly and kissing her with every real feeling he possessed; all of it, the love, even the remorse. He knew she would understand through feeling.

Although he had done it without warning, Hermione had been ready this time and though she was breathless already, she had been able to compose herself and kiss him too, not holding back one ounce of her love.

The arm that Severus wasn't using to hold her arm he placed on the small of her back, ensuring she wouldn't move away at all. (Not that she wanted to by any means.)

When they broke apart, neither of them moved, their lips lingering centimeters away from the others', breathing as if they had just run a marathon.

"Go and get Potter's cloak," Severus said suddenly and quietly. "I want to show you something."

Hermione's eyes opened quickly at his words. She looked at him with questioning eyes but was only met with a slightly amused look. He had been going through her things had he?

Hermione tried her best to properly glare at him in shock for his rifling through her belongings, but she found that she could only smile.

"Looks like someone's been going through my bag," she said teasingly but trying to sound upset. It wasn't working...

"Oh no, of course not," he said nonchalantly, waving his hand dismissively. "I simply...knocked it over. You'll find I am very clumsy at times."

Hermione gave him an irritated look at this, knowing he had never been clumsy in his entire life. He only smirked back causing Hermione to shake her head and let out a small, pathetic laugh.

But yes, it was true, she still had Harry's invisibility cloak which unnerved her slightly knowing _he _no longer had it...but what did Severus want to show her that required her to wear the thing?

"Very well," she finally said, surrendering and went to retrieve it, still shaking her head and laughing to herself.

Severus was waiting by the door for her when she came down the spiral staircase, cloak draped over her arm.

Hermione stopped in front of him and stared expectantly as him for a few moments before his expression changed to questioning.

"And you plan on walking...how?" Hermione asked matter-of-factly, looking him up and down once before standing there, arms crossed, waiting for an explanation as to how he planned to walk around with most every inch of his body afflicted by some kind of injury.

Severus just rolled his eyes. "Just concern yourself with staying under that cloak..."

Hermione gave him a skeptical look and moved out to him in concern as he walked to the door, stumbling slightly, trying to stifle a sharp breath of pain, but he put up a hand to stop her and she obliged, although reluctantly.

It took him a moment, which he cursed, not wanting to show any weakness, yet finally composing himself and turned his hand over, reaching out for her to take it.

This time, Hermione didn't pause and walked over to him and took his hand, still giving him a skeptical look, which had turned into more of a grin now. Her heart skipped warmly when their hands touched and she breathed in slightly, starting to lose her way in those eyes again.

With his free hand, and also not looking away from her, Severus took the cloak off of her arm and quite gracefully placed it over her, completely erasing her from his sight, the only knowledge she was still there being their still-clasped hands.

Severus pulled her very close and without a word, started leading them out the door and towards the main door of the office.

Surprisingly, he managed to walk with almost no difficulty, thinking it was in part because all he had to do was remember who's hand he was holding on to...that kept him going.

Hermione said nothing as he led her through the corridors, finally starting to not recognize where they were anymore; it was a part of the Hogwarts castle she had never seen before.

Just as her confusion was really starting to kick in, Severus stopped right in front of a large glass window; a loner in the long, bleak corridor in which they were standing. Hermione looked up at him and when he sensed it, looked back at her, seeming to find her eyes even though she was invisible.

Before she could ask any questions as to what in the world they were doing, Severus raised his brow slightly and then glanced over to his left where the window was...or wasn't.

Hermione followed his eyes and was met by not a window, but an archway that seemed to lead down a short tunnel where sunlight looked to be peaking at them at the end of it.

She was amazed and laughed out once in her awe that it had just appeared there.

"Close you eyes," Severus whispered very softly. Hermione obliged as he found the middle of her back and placed his hand there to guide her as he gently pushed her down the small tunnel.

Now her heart was really flying in anticipation of what the end would show. Eyes tightly closed, she allowed Severus to move her forward. Finally, she felt sunlight hit her face telling her they had reached the end.

Breathing a little harder than she wanted to, Hermione felt it would be ok to open her eyes and so very slowly as if to savor the moment, she opened them.

A small gasp escaped her as she came into sight with quite possibly one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

She absentmindedly pulled the cloak off as she gazed around taking in a breathtaking view of a what would have been a simple and forgotten looking courtyard, had it not been for the vinery and moss that was growing up the sides of the cracking stone pillars and partial walls...not to mention the flowery.

_It's a garden,_ she thought to herself in amazement, looking around, almost feeling a tear come to her eye as she just began to smile at what she saw.

At the far end of the courtyard there was a waterfall spilling quietly and gracefully into a shimmering pool, which was sparkling from the sunbeams that had found their way through the vined ceiling.

Subconsciously dropping the cloak onto a bench next to her, Hermione started to walk slowly to the other end, trying to soak it all in.

"What is this place," she asked Severus with hardly any breath to help her get the words out; it was so beautiful.

"I made it..."

Hermione stopped walking and turned around, a slightly surprised look on her face at what he had just said to her.

"You _made_ this," she said, very impressed indeed. She breathed out once in utter amazement, shaking her head as though she couldn't quite believe anyone could possibly have created such a beautiful place.

Severus showed a flicker of a grin, clearly amused that she found it so amazing. "Doesn't seem like something my magic would do, does it," he asked as a rhetorical question, taking his eyes from Hermione to gaze around at his work, having not visited it in years.

"No," said Hermione in the same breathless voice, smiling now. "I just meant that

I cannot believe someone was actually able to create such a..." she trailed off. Severus looked back to her questioningly for her to finish her sentence. But she only shook her head, lost for words. There was no way to describe this place accurately...

"Why..." she started to ask, but Severus already knew what she wanted to know and he began to nod decisively, ready to answer her.

"After a couple of years here as a student, and I will not lie and tell you that I was popular by any means...I wanted somewhere to go where I would be..." he paused, choosing his word carefully. "Safe," he finished, nodding again to himself this time.

Hermione's smile had vanished, understanding that this had been sort of a safe place, a hide-away for him in his youth. She too nodded, knowing the feeling all too well having only wanted to hide from everyone and be alone so many times during her life as a student.

"When the library wasn't enough..." she said in a tone to match his own, looking towards the ground feeling like she now knew Severus better than he might think...mostly because they were quite alike in many ways...

"Yes," Severus agreed, realizing how she knew exactly what he was talking about..._she must_...

Hermione sighed and looked back up at him.

"Well it's wonderful," she said sincerely, giving him a small smile. He only scoffed and rolled his eyes, not wishing to let her know out loud how much it in fact flattered him that she found it so utterly amazing.

Understanding again, Hermione just shook her head as she smiled and turned around again to continue exploring the garden courtyard.

It was like a maze of flowers so-to-speak, with a beautiful display in the middle. As Hermione came closer to the center, she crouched down to examine them better, and upon actually seeing what they were, she felt her heart skip.

"Lilies." She stated in a whisper and covered her mouth lightly with a hand, trying not to cry. She knew what they were there for...or rather, who they were there for.

Slowly, Hermione came to a stand, still looking down on the small display of beautiful lilies in front of her.

"You really did care for her, didn't you," she stated, rather than asked, nodding to herself; not even turning around for she knew Severus had walked up behind her.

And Hermione then suddenly felt a pang of her own sadness...worry...Harry. He was still out there somewhere, he had to be, but it was the fact that she didn't know anything about his whereabouts whatsoever. If she could just _know_ what happened to him after what happened in the forest that night...

She supposed the subtle reminder of Harry's mother was what sparked her sudden mood change, but that didn't make it any less of a problem in her mind.

But comfort found her in a few short moments as Severus clasped both of her shoulders with his hands and drew her into him, just to simply hold her.

Instantly, Hermione felt herself relax as she leaned into his warm body, carefully wrapping her arms around his waist, being careful to not aggravate any injuries at the same time.

Briefly, she wondered what she would have said to someone if they told her that one day she would find comfort in the fact that Severus Snape was holding her in his arms. She supposed she would have hexed them within an inch of their lives...

But now the idea wasn't even remotely repulsing...in fact, she knew it never really was; she had always been inwardly attracted to the man, she just never really embraced it...until now; now when she was forced to see the truth for what she felt.

Hermione tenderly rested her head back against Severus' shoulder, taking in the sweet scent of boiled potion that must be on his robes permanently, wondering what she was going to do now that she was falling in love.

They stayed that way for the longest time. No words, only feelings pouring through them both. Hermione didn't need to be a skilled legimens like Severus to know exactly what he was feeling...because it was mutual.

"Come," Severus finally said with an air of decisiveness, leaning down closer to her face to speak in a low, slightly seductive voice (or at least Hermione thought so...).

She turned her head to look over at him, finding his face was a lot closer than she had thought. They were inches apart for what seemed like the umpteenth time, and she was searching his eyes again, although his were locked into hers as though they were the most beautiful things in the world to him.

Painfully close. Hermione almost couldn't take it. She felt her heart speed up in anticipation as she waited for something to happen.

But as though he could sense her need for that 'something', Severus withdrew from her almost as quickly as he had been there in the first place, leaving Hermione standing, momentarily shocked. Clearly, she had anticipated something to happen right then.

Severus tried to conceal his smug grin as he turned and picked up the deserted invisibility cloak, stood there, and waited.

Hermione smiled to herself and recomposed herself. She turned around and walked straight up to Severus who was holding the cloak up, ready to cover her with it. She got right up close to him, leaving only the smallest amount of space between the two of them, hoping for the same effect as to what he had just done to her.

Severus only slightly raised an eyebrow nonchalantly as the smug look returned to his face and he raised his arms, placing the cloak back over Hermione, covering her small, curious smile from sight.

He found he immediately wanted to remove it again and take her back into his arms, but hid it well. He would make her want it...prolong it until the point where it could almost drive her mad with desire. Severus knew he would not allow himself to crack and show his weakness, which unfortunately for him, was Hermione, and she was right in front of him; he couldn't escape it.

Hermione followed quietly back to the office, her mind racing with too many thoughts as they walked. She was consumed with thoughts of what Severus had just shared with her; such an amazing creation that she knew he hadn't exactly been flaunting around to people throughout the years but had just showed _her._ She smiled to that aspect of things...

But the glaring thought in her mind that was screaming at her for attention was still Harry. No matter what she did, she couldn't stop him from entering her thoughts and causing worry.

She felt guilty. That was the big issue at hand. She had escaped and he...well, she didn't really know what happened to him.

When she and Severus returned to the office, she walked in without a word and went into the living quarters, pulling the cloak off as she went along, now deeper in thought about this whole thing.

Severus had immediately noticed a change in her from the moment she became somewhat melancholy back in the garden. He had tried his best to not pry with his mind, but it was glaringly obvious.

It was Potter...he acknowledged it grudgingly, not really wishing to have yet another Potter affecting his feelings for a woman...

But he knew she was worried about him; it was no secret. And the fact remained that he did know Potter's whereabouts and they weren't bad at all.

He sighed and made his way cautiously into the living rooms, unsure of what to find or even what to say to Hermione. He didn't have much experience dealing with women this way, but figured he had come this far with her, he should at least be able to settle her mind on this topic for now.

She was standing at the large bay window at the other side of the room, arms folded and staring off to the world outside, knowing without even trying that there where a million things racing through her mind right then.

Severus cleared his throat; if he was going to do this, he had to do it now before he backed down. Hermione didn't move, but he continued anyways...

"He's alright..." he stated to her back which barely moved when he spoke. It took a few moments, but finally he saw her head shake as if trying to understand what he'd just said.

"What?" She asked, indeed trying to decipher the meaning of his words. _Who is ok..._she thought, slightly irritated, only wanting to be left to her feelings and not have them diagnosed at that very moment.

"Potter," Severus said. "He's...safe."

Immediately, Hermione snapped to attention and spun to face him, a glaringly questioning expression on her face, as if confirming he wasn't just pulling her leg or anything. But the look in his eyes was true, it was genuine...it was some of the best news she had heard since the end of the summer.

"How do you know," Hermione asked guardedly, knowing that she shouldn't get her hopes up in case it wasn't true...but praying to God that it was.

Severus took her hand and led her over to the couch, sitting down with her, looking to be readying himself to tell a story of sorts. Hermione had the most terrified, yet curious look on her face, telling him that she was torn between wanting to know now and needing to know.

Intently, Hermione watched his face as he tried carefully to find the words to explain what was going on.

"He was captured," Severus finally said very quietly, not looking at Hermione who gasped quietly, her stomach plummeting.

"Then how is he—" she started, wondering where in the world he got off telling her Harry was fine and dandy and then saying Death Eaters had captured him. But Severus put up a surprisingly patient hand to quiet her. She immediately closed her mouth, aching for more news of her friend.

"But," he started again, "a small...battle, if you care to call it such, broke out there where he was being held." He glanced over at Hermione who was wide-eyed, waiting for the next detail, now completely terrified-looking.

"Potter is just fine...he got away," Severus said, seeming to be a little disappointed in his own words but Hermione just ignored it, willing him to go on with her eyes.

"And..." she prompted impatiently when using her facial expressions didn't seem to be working.

"_And_..." said Severus echoing her. "He is with Weasley's brother and sister-in-law...the Beauxbatons girl, I believe...at their home somewhere off the coast."

Hermione breathed out a heavy breath and looked the other way to blink a few unwanted tears out of her eyes, trying to look like dust had gotten in them or something.

Severus said nothing to this...he had no idea of how to comfort women in this way...how to comfort _anyone_ in this way. He sat there, immobile, as Hermione tried to pretend that she wasn't crying, wondering what in Merlin's name he was supposed to be doing.

But then, as if by an unseen force, his hand reached up almost timidly, (which startled him a bit...he was _not_ a 'timid' person), and placed itself behind her head in what he assumed should be comfort. What drove him to do it, he was at a loss for. But when she felt him do it, Hermione breathed in shortly and then he felt her relax.

It surprised Hermione to feel his comforting hand there, as if supporting her mind, but she almost immediately relaxed under his touch. Sighing quietly, she closed her eyes briefly and turned a little to look at Severus, whose hand moved with her head so it was on her cheek now.

He reached up and brushed a tear away with his thumb, again unsure of what he was doing, although it just seemed...right. Hermione showed a very small smile at his attempt to comfort her. It was working, no denying that, because she had become more relaxed the second he touched her, certainly something neither of them had ever fathomed happening.

Neither of them had words to form in that moment; they sat there in what became companionable silence for a time, Hermione feeling more at ease at least knowing where Harry was...knowing that he was at least safe.


	10. Irresistable

There was something to be said for sunrises at Hogwarts. They were, in short, some of the most spectacular Hermione had ever seen.

She had never really been able to appreciate them before, having been far too buried in her schoolwork to notice what was going on in nature right before her. Yes, she had been up for many a sunrise, but never had she truly taken in its beauty as it formed over the lake and the hill tops, causing the smooth water to glisten all the way across to the grounds where it fell in strips along the sloping lawns.

It startled Hermione slightly at the thought that she had been hiding here for almost two months now, having been able to make up for her lack of witnessing sunrises quite nicely in that time.

No one ever suspected, from either side, that she was here. With the exception of McGonagall and Neville, of course, who had gotten no say in the matter at all.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Severus who was not one to engage in sunrise watching or anything of the sort that required him out of bed at an early hour, and so he was still fast asleep. She couldn't help but smile, never tiring of how young and different he looked while he slept.

She shook her head and went back to gazing out the window, holding her mug of tea to warm her chilly hands. Some time went by before she noticed Hagrid emerge from his hut near the edge of the forest to feed some sort of creatures; most likely Blast-Ended Skrewts by the look of it. He lumbered back in sometime later; Fang close at his heels, probably waiting for some kind of food from his master.

"Ah—close those blasted things, would you?" Severus said suddenly and very groggily, making Hermione jump a little. She wasn't worried though; she had come to know how to decipher his tone of voice...and he wasn't upset. Or at least, he wasn't upset with _her,_ just the drapes and the glaring sunlight.

Hermione only rolled her eyes before she set her mug down on a small table and turned around to face him, arms folded and trying to look dominant...which never really worked when she actually thought about it. The man could be just as intimidating laying down, drunk with sleep.

She tried her hardest to not allow a larger smile to creep onto her face as Severus indicated backwards with his head slightly, telling her to come back over to the bed.

After almost quite successfully composing herself, Hermione shook her head just as subtly, unwilling to submit immediately.

Severus raised an eyebrow, and then nodded backwards again, this time a little less subtle.

Now Hermione couldn't help but crack a smile, but she controlled it as she shook her head again.

Another less subtle movement of the head.

This time Hermione laughed out once, finally looking down in somewhat of submission and walked over to the edge of the bed but stayed standing, arms still crossed, her expression clearly asking, _what? _

More raised eyebrows were all she received, as if the answer was obvious.

Of course she _knew_ the 'answer' to her 'question', but that certainly didn't mean she should have to submit at all. Besides, it was much more fun making him work for something for once as it pertained to this instance.

With aggravation, Severus sighed and sat up ever so slightly, rolling his eyes at her for being difficult.

Hermione only had a moment to smile in her triumph, for it was soon completely shattered as Severus moved just enough so he could grasp her wrist, pulling her down onto the bed.

She let out an awkward sound, as she obviously had not been expecting that as she fell, landing nearly on top of him. She started to laugh as soon as she landed, knowing it would be nearly impossible for her to keep a straight face with him now.

Severus also quirked a smile, although faint (as it usually was), and looked at her, brushing away some stray hair that had found its way into her face when she fell.

"Couldn't help yourself, now could you?" Hermione tried to say accusingly, but knowing it came out jokingly. She was completely helpless like this and she was well aware of this fact...unfortunately, so was he.

"Can't resist me though, can you..." Severus said quietly, but still holding somewhat of a smirk on his very tired face. Hermione was only able to shake her head slightly as she found herself falling into his eyes again, unable to look away.

Severus reached up and placed both hands on the sides of her face very gently, as if contemplating his next move.

"It happened again last night," said Hermione very suddenly and decisively, having noticed a part of the Mark on his arm where his shirt did not cover, "didn't it?"

For a moment, Severus said nothing, only looked at her for a few moment longer before sighing and closing his eyes, letting his hands fall from where they rested on her face to his chest where they now lay in forgotten heap.

Hermione, of course, was talking about him being called to Voldemort's side; she knew he'd gone in the middle of the night and that he'd come back injured again.

"I don't want you worrying about that," Severus finally said, his eyes still closed. Hermione stared at his face incredulously.

"And how can I possibly _not_ be worried, Severus," she asked. He shrugged an eyebrow, not speaking about the matter and simply not wishing to; never understanding why she found the need to bring it up.

"Besides," she continued. "You're hurt...again," she added with some exasperation as he refused to seek any help for his wounds ever...only with severe threats did Hermione manage to at least somewhat tend to him.

One eye opened...

Severus only half-glared at her concerned expression momentarily before retorting.

"I am perfectly alright...ouch! Damn girl...what was that for?!" He cursed as Hermione had swiftly found it in best interest to prove him wrong and apply pressure to his torso where she knew he was wounded. It had, of course, worked. She sat up and waited for him to stop pretending like it wasn't hurting him as badly as it really was.

"Isn't there some way you can just—"

"No," Severus said very swiftly, being expert in retort as they had already had this discussion/argument more than a few times.

Knowing it was no use, especially at this hour of the early morning, Hermione did not press it...for the moment. She would not give up easily, and she had a very good feeling he knew that.

But sitting up wasn't suiting Severus at all, so she found herself being unceremoniously tugged back down next to him, huddled up against his body, finding it impossible to not smile at how determined he was for her to stay right there with him, just for the company.

Hermione rested her head on the inside of his shoulder rather than the pillow, laying her arm gently across his chest, careful this time to not hurt him. She could hear his deep breathing as he started to drift back off to sleep, watching her arm rise and fall with this chest.

"Don't you have first years to teach," Hermione said after while and looking at the clock noticing what time it was. Severus only groaned in response, not thrilled by any means about teaching the dunderhead beginners who didn't know one end of their wand from the other.

"I cannot possibly teach today," he said, eyes still tightly closed. "I'm injured, remember?" Hermione only shook his head at his snide comment and said something about him getting up and acting like a man if he so insisted on being one who refused any medical help.

"You are impossible," Hermione said lightly, disengaging herself from him, hoping it would prompt him to move if she was no longer there.

Severus finally convinced himself it was no use staying there any longer if he was to be alone and so he pushed himself to sit up. It made his lungs and stomach positively burn and it took everything not to groan in pain. Teeth tightly clenched, he got out of the bed and walked a few steps to Hermione who was in the middle of the room, as if she were dangling a carrot in front of a horse who refused to move.

He certainly took the bait, although most definitely not taking amusement in her triumphant face, and walked over to her, right up close so there were only centimeters of air between them.

Hermione looked up at him with her eyes, questioning what exactly it was he was doing now.

Severus swiftly erased every thought that lingered in her mind as he closed the gap, holding her as tight as he dared to without hurting himself more, softly kissing her...a kiss to take her breath away.

Hermione couldn't move when they broke apart and stood there in a stupor for a few moments as she felt him release her and walk away to reluctantly get ready for the day.

She was never very sure of when those moments would come...those moments when he just kissed her without even the slightest warning with such a passion it sent butterflies everywhere in her being just thinking about it.

Severus smirked to himself as he entered the bathroom, loving the look on her face whenever he did something like that.

Oh, the unexpected moments...

At the mirror, he removed his white night shirt, revealing his makeshift bandage he had made the night before. Slowly, clenching his teeth, he removed it to reveal the large gash on his side, about the length of his forearm. It had finally stopped bleeding, but it still looked absolutely horrid, probably on its way to infection very soon.

He knew Hermione was right...he needed it looked at. But pride and ego were stopping him...not to mention he was sure Poppy wouldn't be very eager to make him a healing potion or sew him up for that matter.

"Still alive though, aren't you old boy?" He muttered to himself in the mirror with a ghost of a grin, finally reapplying the bandage and getting himself dressed again in his usual black attire, spirits lifted with thoughts of how terrified those younger students always were when he made his dramatic entrances into the classroom everyday.

Hermione wandered her way down into the living room, casting a simple spell to make a fire in the hearth. She smiled as a memory of her crawling under bleachers to set a cape on fire came popping into her head...

Did he know it had been her all those years ago?

Sighing at memories of days past, her smile fading a bit as thoughts of current day problems overpowered memory lane, she settled back with one of the many books Severus had brought in for her and began to read away.

Severus smiled faintly when he came down the stairs to see Hermione absorbed in yet another book. It was never a surprise to see it, obviously, however the thought that she was as passionate about knowledge as he was gave him just one more reason to fall in love with her. Not that he was finding this difficult by any means, but it just served as a...small reminder of all of the things he realized made her so perfect.

"Still reading," he commented snidely as he came down the stairs, certainly not one to become a perfect gentleman and tell her how much he admired it.

Upon reaching her where she sat, Severus leaned in close to her. "Simply cannot live without it can you," he whispered.

Hermione raised one eyebrow but did not glance up from the page. He was bating her and she knew it, but she wouldn't let it faze her. Not today.

"No," she replied very nonchalantly. "No, I suppose I can't."

Severus narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering if she would suddenly crack under the pressure of his bait. Although after a time, she only continued to read and so he straightened up nodding to himself. _Touché..._he thought in complete admiration for standing her ground against him.

Hermione looked up with her eyes only as he started walking towards the door, a smirk creeping from her lips, knowing he had not been expecting her to as good as ignore him.

Without another word, she watched him open the door and leave, swiftly clicking it closed behind him. This was when her true smile broke out and she kind of laughed out once before shaking her head and going back to reading.

It wasn't until part way into her second book did Hermione find something that really caught her interest. It was a book about Hogwarts, untitled, that was apparently quite rare and contained information on some of the less well-known secrets of the castle.

The piece that caught her eye was about the head's quarters beyond the public office. There were said to be an original total of three "secrets" of the office; places for the current head to use for hiding, extra storage, or whatever need be. There was also an addition in the text stating that current headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had added a fourth, to what extent or purpose remained unknown. Hermione smiled at this, knowing exactly which one had been Dumbledore's...

She suddenly found herself looking around, book abandoned on her lap, wondering where and what these secret places were within the office, and did they even still exist?

"Only one way to find out..." she said to herself decisively, standing up and setting the book aside. She sighed and gazed around, hoping to see something out of the ordinary she may have overlooked before.

Some time passed before Hermione walked near where the old jukebox was and felt a slight draft...coming from above her.

She looked up, thinking. Well, it was a place to start...

Severus' first thought was a panicked one when he arrived back in his quarters later that afternoon. A somewhat large cloud of dust took over the backside of the room near Dumbledore's hideous old muggle music contraption. Unsure of what was causing it, he waited almost apprehensively as it began to clear, wand at the ready...just in case.

He was however, taken a bit by surprise as the dust cleared and he saw Hermione, or at least most of her, coming down from the ceiling where everything but her shoulders up was visible. She seemed to be _through_ the ceiling.

Severus rolled his eyes and walked over to her where he noticed she was standing on one of his tables. "Care to explain why you are dismantling the ceiling of my sitting room?"

Hermione's face suddenly appeared from where it had indeed been up in the ceiling at his words, smiling a little too brightly, giving him the impression she was up to no good.

Although he was slightly shocked at where he had found her, he could not deny that she looked quite attractive, stripped down to only her white tank top...hair up haphazardly, face black in places from what appeared to be an excessive amount of dust.

"Hello," she said brightly. "It's all explained in that book right there," she pointed to her abandoned book that was near the couch where she'd left it hours before. Eyeing her suspiciously, Severus strolled over to the couch and picked up the book, reading the page that was open.

"Secret places," he said aloud, never having heard of such things in the head's study before. "And you think you've found one do you?"

"Mmmhmm..." came the muffled sound of Hermione's voice from where it was back in the ceiling, searching again. "It's a crawl space," she said. "I think there is something up here, but I haven't quite figured out how to make it visible." Severus noted that she sounded a tad disappointed.

Snapping closed the book and tossing it aside on the sofa, Severus went back over to where she was and stood there a moment thinking before speaking again.

"Pity, that..." he said in a low, slightly seductive voice.

Before Hermione could even react to that tone of voice that she now knew to be trouble, she found herself being swept from the table, emitting a small scream as she fell down, but safely into Severus' arms.

He watched her laugh as she held onto him around the neck and he walked away from the dusty corner, shoving away the immense pain that had erupted near his torso.

"What was that for," she asked laughingly, looking up at his face as he stopped walking near the sofa.

"Now you see, it was my turn to be unable to resist..." he trailed off suggestively, leaning down to kiss her once; something he had been thinking about doing all day.

"Were you going to set me down or..." Hermione asked, smiling, as they broke apart. She raised her brow as Severus shook his head slowly, that look that positively spelled trouble spread onto his face.

"I seem to have trouble keeping you in that bed with me, Hermione," he said quietly in what was probably response to earlier that morning. "Although, as it looks like you wont be going anywhere at the moment, perhaps I should just bring you there now, as insurance."

She laughed, inwardly loving the way he was talking to her, secretly wishing to just lay in that bed with him all day.

"Cute," she stated jokingly. "Now put me down," she said with what she hoped was at least a bit forceful. But Severus only partially sneered at her attempt to tell him what to do, and with that he began to walk in the general direction of the stairs.

"Severus!" She exclaimed, playfully smacking his shoulder. "Hey! No—put me down!" She started to positively giggle while attempting to protest and resist him from taking her upstairs. The fact that he was actually smiling, taking obvious pleasure in this did not help matters for Hermione, although she had to admit it was wonderful to see him looking so pleased.

"A-hem," came a voice from the doorway, stopping Severus right in his tracks. He was still slightly grinning as he turned them both around to face Professor McGonagall who was standing in the doorway, looking a tad uncomfortable.

Severus' happy face faded almost completely as he finally set Hermione down, she herself trying very hard to wipe the smile off of her own face, but of course failing.

"Professor McGonagall," Hermione acknowledged politely, only all too aware of how utterly disgusting she had to look from being engulfed in dust and dirt for most of the afternoon.

"Not to be rude," Severus said in a tone that was meant to hint at nothing _but_ rudeness, "but I thought we'd had an earlier conversation about _knocking_—"

"I know Severus," McGonagall interjected sharply, sounding a bit annoyed with her colleague. "And I did; however, you must have been too..." she pursed her lips in true McGonagall fashion. "Busy...to hear me."

Hermione instantly felt her face turn pink, but took care to hide it as she turned around partially to catch the look on Severus' face that she knew would absolutely be a once in a lifetime thing to see. She stifled a laugh before turning back to McGonagall again.

"You seem to have visitors," she finished after no one spoke in an irritated tone of voice suggesting these "visitors" did not thrill her at all.

Severus' face immediately darkened at this. He straightened up, leaving no signs that he had in fact been laughing moments earlier. Hermione was worried now. He wouldn't act this way unless it was a Death Eater who was here to see him.

"Stay here," he ordered as he reached the door, not turning around to face the two witches. Hermione nodded. _Ok, _she thought, acknowledging how Severus nodded once in assurance that she would stay put and watched as he only opened the door to the office enough for him to go through, closing it swiftly behind him with a thud.

Hermione half expected McGonagall to follow him, but was surprised to find her sit down on the sofa, heaving a sigh. Hermione didn't say a word; she only watched the old witch, wishing she would say something to break the very awkward tension in the room.

Instead of speaking though, McGonagall glanced beside her where Hermione's book had been cast aside and picked it up, looking at the cover before opening back up to the page where Hermione had stopped reading.

"Impressive," she muttered as she read, Hermione unsure if she was addressing her or simply speaking to herself, so she said nothing in response. "So that's what you were doing..." McGonagall glanced over her shoulder at the mess Hermione had made behind her; looking back at her a bit sheepishly because of her previous statement as to the reason no one had heard the knock on the door.

Hermione found herself nodding absentmindedly, though consumed with other thoughts as to who and what those so-called visitors wanted out there...

With a sigh of her own, Hermione sat down in the large armchair, looking at the floor, thinking.

"Miss Granger," said McGonagall suddenly. Hermione looked up questioningly, having a feeling this would be nothing good. McGonagall had a look about her, one suggesting that something was indeed on her mind but she could not quite form the right words to say it. Hermione had a feeling this probably had to do with Severus...or _her_ and Severus...

But at that moment, she realized that she shouldn't be upset with Professor McGonagall...if Hermione herself was watching these last few months, having no knowledge of what was going on, she would ask the same exact questions.

She looked up at her professor's struggling face with a sad smile. "You can say it, you know," she said quietly in a knowing voice as if prompting her to say what she was feeling.

McGonagall looked up, just seeming to have become aware Hermione had been watching her. She strained a smile and took a breath before speaking.

"Hermione," she said quietly, "you've have grown so much..."

Ok. Not exactly the route Hermione thought she'd be traveling. Some confusion must have showed in Hermione's face, as McGonagall only smiled more genuinely.

"Yes," she continued, "it has become especially apparent these last few years...sticking by Mr. Potter through all of his endeavors, especially throughout the tournament. And then last spring, that night S—" she stopped abruptly, as if she'd caught herself saying something she shouldn't. "That night Albus died," she finished after a moment. Hermione looked away at this, knowing full well what she had been about to say. "You were there, helping fight off the Death Eaters...over the past months once again staying by Harry's side while he has been searching for the horcruxes..." she stopped again and looked back up to Hermione.

"And now...now, here, this." She seemed to not know how to say all of this straightly. "I have often wondered how a young woman such as yourself could..." she trailed off, looking to the floor for her words, not wishing to be offensive.

And the odd thing was Hermione wasn't offended at all, because she now actually understood where McGonagall was coming from with all of this.

"...Possibly fall in love with a man like him," Hermione finally finished for her, nodding her head with a slight smile on her face. McGonagall did not look up, but only nodded to the ground; seeming grateful Hermione had stepped up and said what she had meant to the entire time.

"I often ask myself the same exact thing," replied Hermione a bit laughingly now, knowing she was never certain of her attraction to this man, but only knew it was there and it was genuine.

"You love him, don't you?" McGonagall asked, watching her carefully now, as if they were in class again and she was waiting for a particularly calculated answer to a complicated homework question.

Almost instantly, Hermione felt herself nodding, knowing how right it felt to say yes to her about the whole matter. "Yes. I do."

McGonagall nodded to herself decisively and looked up and actually smiled, taking Hermione for a bit of a surprise, thinking that she would have practically gagged in repulsion.

"Then, in that case, I am happy for you both. Know that," she said truthfully, inclining her head slightly indicating that she truly meant it. Hermione smiled as well, thankful for McGonagall's reaction. "Besides," she added with a small grin, "that nearly impossible man out there needs a strong-willed woman like you...to, you know, keep him in check every once in a while." Hermione laughed, shaking her head. _Oh how true that will be..._

Hermione was slightly more relaxed from that point on, although she still had not pushed away the feeling that everything would not be going her way today.

True to her feelings too, she was right. No more than five minutes after McGonagall had said her peace did the door to the living room open, revealing the sneering face of none other than Draco Malfoy.


	11. M A L F O Y That Spells 'Trouble'

Severus swiftly closed the door behind him, immediately seeing where his 'visitors' stood at near the doorway. Upon realizing _who_ they actually were, his entire self-being blackened, hatred pouring out of every inch of him.

"Have you thought about employing Minerva as your secretary, Severus? She handles messages and your guests quite well..."

"I do believe she is content in her current position, _Lucius_," Severus sneered back in reply, "thank you."

"Brought your family for tea, have you," he mocked, nodding with his head to where Draco and Narcissa stood, faces hidden under their black traveling cloaks. Severus sighed, growing impatient with his old friend.

"What is it you want," Severus asked with irritation. "I could think of a whole host of other, more pressing matters I could be doing at the moment while you stand here making sarcastic comments about my staff, you see..." he waved an impatient hand, waiting.

"Severus," said Narcissa with urgency, pushing her hood off and stepping forward. Severus turned to look at her with disdain, but said nothing to the extremely pale woman who looked almost, dare he say it, desperate. "Draco is not safe with us anymore, he—"

"Quiet woman!" Barked her husband throwing his arm out to silence her.

"What my _dear_ wife" (Severus raised an eyebrow) "is trying to say," began Lucius in what he hoped was a smooth voice, something that failed because of his tightly clenched teeth, "is that we feel our son would find it in his best interest to stay here...for the time being, as things outside of these walls are becoming less and less ideal for a...young man of his age to be living his life in."

Severus thought a moment before speaking. When he looked back up at Lucius, his eyes held nothing but the lowest contempt.

"I think my friend, what you are saying is that because of Draco's utter failure at his task last year, the Dark Lord is angrier than ever and wishing to do nothing more than make his life as miserable as possible. You are both afraid. Afraid for Draco, your family name, and your reputation. You wish to dump him with me, so perhaps he will not be punished any further...yes, what protective parents you are." Severus said sarcastically. And then he waited. Neither parent spoke, nor did Draco who hadn't moved or said one word since they had arrived.

The largest thing, Severus realized, that kept him from agreeing, was in fact the knowledge of what could happen should Draco leak word that Hermione was here as well. Not to mention what would happen if he knew their current...relationship.

But as he was about to deny them their request, he caught wind of Narcissa's emotions: frightened. Truly, genuinely frightened for her only son who was actually in current danger for his failure the previous spring.

Now Severus was a bit torn. _Now comes the time to choose between what is right and what is easy..._a voice echoed in his mind. _Damn you, Albus_, he cursed to himself, knowing the thoughts of the old man were all too true.

He could contemplate for the rest of the day, but he still knew he had to do what was right, even though turning them all away was the simple thing to do. He would find a way to make it work; he would have to.

After thinking it over several times and trying not to look at Narcissa's strained face, sick with worry and guilt for her son, agreed, turning her worried face into sudden and sharp relief.

Severus was still unsure of his decision as Narcissa said goodbye to her son, Lucius only giving him and Severus a curt nod, before ushering his wife out of the room who looked like she wanted nothing more than to stay as well.

Draco stared at the closed door after his parents for some time before being brought sharply back to life by Severus having taken hold of his cloak, turning him around so they faced each other.

"If your waste of parents insist you hide here, and do not be mistaken, that is what you are doing, then you will abide by every rule I lay down, is that perfectly clear," Severus said, his black eyes boring into Draco's sharp blue ones. Draco only nodded, looking like he was relieved to be there, but also that the sound of being told what to do again made him feel slightly more stable. That, and knowing that Severus would not harm him...

Severus eyed Draco suspiciously for a moment or two before nodding once and pointing to the doorway to the living quarters. Draco glanced over with his eyes before sighing heavily and turning to walk towards the door, Severus pausing first before following, knowing that in a moment, things would not be so subdued.

When the slight hint of a sudden uproar was heard, he made his way to the door, knowing this was now going to be a very interesting end to his already stressful day.

"What are you doing here, Mudblood," Draco practically spat as he entered the room to find Hermione and Professor McGonagall seated before him.

Severus was, thankfully, not far behind and upon hearing this, took him by the scruff of the neck and held him there for a minute, all but growling to him.

"Rule number one," he snarled. "_Never_ call her by that foul name...or anyone else for that matter, do you understand me?" Draco looked positively frightened and bewildered at the same time, but he nodded quickly all the same, rubbing the back of his neck after Severus released him, throwing him forward a bit.

Hermione, who along with McGonagall had abandoned their seats when they saw who walked in, caught Severus' eye, shooting him a look to ask, 'what in the name of Merlin is going on?' But Severus only rolled his eyes subtly, shaking his head, truly seeming annoyed with the entire situation.

After quite the awkward silence followed, Severus waved his hand at the floor on the other side of the room where somewhat of a trapdoor appeared, Hermione's eye's widening, sure the others were doing the same at the new door.

Severus spoke to Draco then in an even voice, as though he were trying very hard to not lash out at him with his wand.

"Go down and get settled," he said with almost clenched teeth. "I shall be down later."

Draco said nothing, but still looked terrified and left, clambering down the door in the ground without another glance back at any of them. As soon as the wood made a loud thud against the floor, Severus waved his hand once more and the door disappeared.

Hermione glanced over at McGonagall who had the exact mirror of a face she did: confused. Hermione admitted to herself she was also a little scared too...Severus' visitors had obviously been the Malfoys but why did they leave Draco behind?

After a time, and after politely telling Severus to try not to lose his temper with the boy, McGonagall announced that she should leave, muttering to Hermione quietly to call on her should things get out of hand. Hermione absentmindedly nodded, really having not heard half of what McGonagall had just said, being far more concerned with the internal war Severus seemed to be battling with.

She watched his back for a time at where he stood on the other side of the room, unsure of what to say, not because she was afraid of being snapped at, but because she hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on.

"Severus," she asked cautiously. He didn't move for a moment. And then she saw his back rise and fall with a heavy sigh and he turned around to face her.

With sad, questioning eyes, Hermione waited patiently for him to find his words. He let out another sigh before he practically trudged over to the sofa, passing Hermione and sat down heavily, resting his head in his hands.

Hermione furrowed her brow as he passed her and did this, not seeing Severus as the kind of man who "plopped" down onto the sofa to do some heavy thinking.

It took him a few seconds, but finally Severus began to recount everything that had just happened out in the office with the Malfoys and how they practically begged him to shelter Draco.

"I can't deny it, he needs help or the Dark Lord will surely kill him," Severus said flatly. "But having him here now causes danger to—"

"Me," Hermione finished for him. He nodded to his lap.

Another sigh.

Hermione sighed too and sat down next to him, having nothing to say to make it a better situation. She knew that if Malfoy leaked anything outside of the castle, or even inside the castle for that matter, she would be in big trouble. She only hoped that under Severus' watchful eye, he would never get the chance.

Without another word, Severus stood up and walked slowly over the area where the invisible door was, waved his hand over it and descended, the door thudding closed behind him.

Hermione watched him, knowing not to take it personally. She knew it was taking a lot of thought to process all that just happened, and how he was going to keep it under control.

Knowing that prying would only make matters worse, she decided that she would refrain from...unnecessary questions that could potentially put Severus in a more foul mood.

After sitting and thinking to herself on the sofa for a while, and figuring it would be a while before that door opened again, she heavily decided to go and clean up, beginning to smell her body odor...and not enjoying it.

Sinking into the bath, Hermione lay back and closed her eyes, feeling somewhat relaxed, allowing the warm soapy water to practically hypnotize her into a lazy, half sleep.

So many thoughts were finding their way into her head while she sat there, making it difficult for her to feel totally peaceful at all. So finally she gave up, getting out of her bath, draining the water which had turned a bit murky what with how filthy she had been trying to find those secrets in the study.

Hermione wandered over to the sink where she leaned on the basin, staring down at the drain for a time before finally looking up at her reflection in the oval mirror. She didn't know what she was looking for; perhaps some answers she had been searching for in the past months...or perhaps it was the fact of whose bathroom she was standing in at that moment.

Sighing and finding a small smile creep onto her face, she lazily tied her curls back and stepped away from the sink, knowing she needed to stop letting her mind do all of the talking. She had done enough of that in the past. Now it was time for her heart to be the one speaking for her.

A large yawn escaped her mouth as she entered the bedroom, realizing how extremely tired she had become. Without any further thoughts, Hermione lay down; slipping into dreamland the instant her head hit the pillow.

Severus emerged from the door to Draco's room hours after he had initially gone down there to set a few things straight for Draco so he didn't go saying things he shouldn't be.

Of course, he had started to find out much, much more than he intended. Draco was so troubled now. Well, he had been ever since his sixth year when he was tasked with killing Dumbledore, but now being on the run from both sides wasn't making things any easier for the boy.

Severus was sure that Draco did not intend to share so much right then, but it seemed to pour out of him without hope of ceasing once he started. The whole time there had been one particular emotion pouring out of him: it was not fear, but regret.

Draco Malfoy had never truly wanted to be a part of all of this; that is, being a Death Eater. Yes, he had taken considerable enjoyment in acting superior to others around him because he was pureblooded, but he never wished it to go as far as it had. He only did what he did because his parents seemed to need him to, or at least that's what it felt like to a boy of that age.

Severus knew the feeling all too well...the pressures, keeping up appearances, so to speak. He of course had never had such a family to impress, and certainly not many friends when he was Draco's age that cared what he did, more or less whether he lived or died.

But he supposed that all of this talking Draco had just done had just reassured him that there would be no problems with...letting out secrets.

_Speaking of beautiful secrets..._he thought to himself as he entered his bedroom and saw Hermione laying there, sound asleep, looking as though she hadn't had time to even get under any covers she had been so tired.

He smiled faintly at her as he gently picked her up and moved the sheets back, placing her back down and covering her still-sleeping body, daring to place a hand on the side of her head, as if reassuringly...or perhaps ensuring she lay there soundly.

He knew all he was feeling, but Severus was not the kind of person to so openly express himself. Although, he knew Hermione would not wait around forever to hear what she needed to; even though they accomplished much through simply feeling.

Despite all of this, he knew the time would come, the time when he would allow that wall to break and every hidden feeling, thought...all of it would come to life.

Lying down next to her, Severus got as close as he dared without waking her, noticing how at ease he felt now, just like she seemed to be practically every time they touched.

Very, very gently, Severus reached over and touched her cheek, unwilling to wake her but unable to have her so close and not be able to touch her. With only the side of his index finger, he quietly stroked her soft face, mentally reminding himself this was the reason he now got a decent sleep at night.

Hermione felt him touch her face ever so lightly, but she felt it nonetheless. Even though she knew Severus thought she was asleep and would be startled should she open her eyes, she did it anyways, meeting his now-frozen gaze in the semi-dark room.

She off-handedly noticed that he immediately stopped what he was doing the moment her eyes opened, although he did not withdraw his hand from her face.

Smiling, Hermione shifted her weight slightly, noting again how Severus never moved. She suddenly then became a bit more serious, looking him straight in the eye, noticing in his face as she got used to the dark how troubled his expression was, although he was trying not to show it.

"What happened down there?" Hermione asked with concern knowing the last thing Severus needed was something more eating away at his conscious.

Even though she did not specify something in particular, Severus knew exactly what Hermione was referring to in her inquiry, although he was almost reluctant to share it.

With an inaudible sigh, Severus finally removed his hand from her face and turned to lie on his back, staring up at the ceiling, trying to form an explanation she would understand.

He finally began to speak, explaining all he could about Draco and the real danger he actually was in now that he had failed the Dark Lord.

"He isn't exactly safe from either side," Severus commented after explaining a bit. "The light wont take him because, well, he is a Death Eater and the Dark Lord's followers are to capture him on the spot should he be found. That's why he is here."

Hermione, who had been completely silent while Severus explained all of this to her, still said nothing, as if waiting for him to add something else.

"I was reluctant at first, probably because I couldn't believe Lucius Malfoy had the nerve to show up here...but Draco is in fact in serious danger," Severus added somewhat bitterly or annoyed, Hermione couldn't exactly tell; most likely the latter.

He just let that hang there in the dark air, seeming to be finished with what he was saying. Hermione saw him barely shrug it off before shaking his head slightly and closing his eyes, as to close the conversation.

Hermione decided to just drop it there, recognizing his tone and knowing it would be unwise to continue asking questions, especially at this late hour and after what had just happened.

Hermione too then turned over to lie on her back, no longer feeling as tired as before. She stared up at the great domed ceiling for some time, not thinking about anything in particular, but just how as different as things had been for her when she ended up here, now they were going to be even more so what with their 'new addition.'

For being so tired earlier and then suddenly becoming so incredibly wide awake, it proved difficult for Hermione to actually find sleep again. But it did finally come, overtaking her in an instant when it did.


	12. Compromises Can Be Found For Everything

Hermione never really used to observe the weekends when she was in school. There had always been so much to get done, homework wise, and so she had hardly ever allowed herself the luxury to sleep in and lounge around on a Sunday morning.

Now, however, things were different and she gratefully welcomed these mornings where no one had to be up and about at any certain time to say, teach classes or something...

She enjoyed laying there for what had easily turned into hours a few times, the two of them talking or a lot of times just simply staying silent, taking in the morning and how perfect the world seemed for just those couple of hours in time.

But this Sunday morning was different because sometime in the very early morning, Severus had been called away to Voldemort's side; leaving Hermione to wake up alone.

After giving up on trying to stay there by herself, she heaved herself out of bed and walked carefully down the stairs, trying hard not to stumble, as she was still partly asleep.

She came down the spiral staircase, surprised to find the living quarters occupied. For a second she felt panicked, but then she remembered why Draco Malfoy was sitting on the couch and she somewhat relaxed, although obviously not entirely thrilled about the whole thing.

Draco only glared at her with a shadow of a sneer, trying to be superior but seeming to not have the strength to let it come on very strong.

Hermione sighed. She knew that whether she liked it or not, Draco was going to be around there for a while and they probably had at least try to get along with each other. She did not, however, expect him to speak to her first.

"Not enough space for another bedroom, Granger," he inquired suggestively with a positively evil grin on his pale face.

Hermione stopped where she stood, feeling the invisible weight that had just hit her hard in the chest. She hadn't really thought of how she would handle this if it were brought up.

But she swallowed hard and took a breath, deciding to shrug it off. She didn't need to explain anything to Malfoy...but he wasn't done yet.

"You know he's just _using you_, don't you," he prodded, just waiting for her to crack under his stare. But Hermione wouldn't falter. When she didn't respond, his expression became a bit disappointed, but quickly hid it, clearly trying to think up something more clever and hurtful to say to her.

"You know, what is your problem, Malfoy," Hermione countered, a little proud of how well she had just been able to keep him off of her nerves. She wasn't going to let the little weasel get to her.

It took Malfoy a moment to register that she had just basically stood up to him.

_She usually just ignores you,_ he thought, slightly shocked.

Hermione gained more nerve with every second that Malfoy didn't respond; so she continued.

"All you do is put everyone else down...and for what? To make _yourself_ feel a little better?" She stopped and waited, watching how his brow furrowed, apparently trying to do some very quick thinking. Hermione just shook her head. "You're pathetic...and you know what, I feel _sorry_ for you."

There. She'd gotten that off her chest.

Malfoy said nothing. Only half-glared at her from where he was now standing, apparently trying to look more demeaning.

Hermione didn't budge. She glared at him from where she stood her ground, off-handedly thinking of how her wand was currently upstairs on the nightstand, completely useless to her should Malfoy suddenly decide to curse her or something.

_Of course, _she thought, _he wouldn't be so high and mighty when Severus comes back...if he does come back. _She quickly shook her head to rid it of that last thought. He would come back. She just had to keep saying that to herself, as if making her mind think it would make it definite.

She came back from her thoughts just in time to watch Malfoy sink down onto the sofa he had just vacated, seeming defeated.

_It can't be that easy..._she thought to herself, confused now. Had she just won?

"You're right," he suddenly muttered, staring at the ground. She felt her jaw drop open slightly. She raised an eyebrow, unsure if she should let her guard down or not. Did she just hear what she thought she heard...and coming from Draco Malfoy's mouth? It didn't seem possible for the boy who had put her down from the moment they'd met.

"I couldn't disappoint the family," he said in a quiet and monotonous voice as he shook his head to himself. "I didn't dare. So if I was...friendly with someone from another house, especially a—muggle-born..." he swallowed, trailing off, as if it was difficult for him to speak the less degrading term after using 'mudblood' for all of those years.

After silence followed, he didn't seem to know what else to say about that matter and so he crossed his arms and leaned back, scowling, unable to believe that he had just as good as shown his weakest side to Hermione Granger of all people.

"I'm starving," he finally said after a while in a bit of a bitter tone. "Where are those damn elves?" He looked around, keeping his eyes away from her at all costs.

Hermione, who was still shocked at what she'd just heard, was surprisingly able to crack a bit of a grin in his direction and walked over to where he was sitting.

Without much thought at all, she reached out her hand to him, as if to shake it. She noticed Draco glance over at it, contemplating what to do. He looked up at her with only his eyes, questioning a bit at first before seeming to answer every question in his head and reached up, firmly shaking her hand.

Hermione cracked a more knowing smile, it broadening as Draco yanked his hand away at the sight of her facial expression, standing up and scowling again.

"Don't get so excited, Granger," he attempted to sneer at her. "It's not like this means we're _friends_."

But Hermione only smiled a little more, enjoying how he was trying to act superior again, not willing to let what he really was feeling out.

"I'm going to get breakfast," Hermione said shortly. "Care to join me?" she added, starting off in the general direction of the fireplace.

"Call me crazy, Granger," Draco said monotone, "but I don't think we're supposed to be _seen._"

"We won't be."

"Oh," he retorted sarcastically, "so you're just going to waltz into the Great Hall and hope no one notices we're there? Yeah. Good plan."

Hermione actually laughed a little. "No," she said, almost at the wall, pausing just before she went through it. "Not the Great Hall..." And with that, she raised an eyebrow and slid through the wall, turning just in time to see the shocked look on Draco's face.

"What the—" Draco muttered and started to move quickly at the wall.

Hermione, who had turned around, shaking her head as she laughed a little more, did not see him practically running at her from the other side of the wall until it was too late; she turned around just in time for him to come plowing through the lack of a wall, running into her with a great amount of force, sending them both over the edge she had fallen off of the last time.

_At least this table is here to break my fall every time..._Hermione thought to herself as her and Draco fell hard into what was probably the same exact table reconstructed.

"What in the—" she heard Draco curse from where he was, which was basically on top of her.

"Uh..." she started when Draco didn't seem to realize that he was squashing her. "Could you consider getting off of me..." she trailed off, waving her un-pinned hand in a suggestive manor, as if to wave him off.

It took him a second or two, but Draco finally came out of the stupor he had been in from falling and upon realizing he had fallen on Hermione, began to scramble to get up.

It was then Hermione's turn to be surprised again as she looked up to see Draco holding his own hand out to help her up, which she took and stood, looking at _him_ questioningly this time.

"Wow...erm...thank you," she said, sounding a little unsure. But Draco didn't seem to hear her; he just quickly released her hand, as if he were even shocked at himself for just doing it.

"How did we get from up there," Draco pointed to somewhere above them, "to the _Hogwarts kitchen?_"

Hermione just smiled a little, looking around. "That we would have to thank Dumbledore for."

But she stopped and looked back to Draco immediately after she'd said it, cursing herself for not being able to even think to catch what she was saying.

"Sorry..." she muttered, looking at him apologetically. But Draco just shrugged, leaving a bit of an awkward silence between the two as they started to gather up what they wanted to eat.

"Wait there are _stairs_?" Draco asked, sounding annoyed as Hermione led him to the exit.

"Yes," she said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "Which you would have known had you not seen it fit to run after me and throw us over the side of the _stairs_..."

Draco just scoffed in true Malfoy fashion and began to follow Hermione back up.

When they came back into the living quarters of the Headmaster's office, Hermione turned around to see Draco looking the wall up and down, as if confused.

"What?"

"It doesn't make any sense," he said, sounding indeed confused.

"What do you mean," said Hermione, trying to fully appreciate the fact that Draco Malfoy was looking to her for an answer...openly...and not sarcastically.

"Well the kitchens aren't exactly close to this office," he said, shaking his head. "So how was it that simple to get from here to there...and so fast?"

"This may be a fairly new concept to you Malfoy," Hermione said sardonically, "but it's this thing we use around here...maybe you've heard of it...called _magic_?"

Draco only sneered at her, reminding Hermione of the way he had always acted since the day they met, but shot a look back at him to rival his own, not going to be the one to back down.

It went on like this for the remainder of the day, each one almost playfully trying to beat the other at a game neither would lose, Hermione actually kind of glad for the company while she would otherwise obviously be alone.

But night came and as had happened more than a few times during the weeks, all became dark and quiet and very lonely for Hermione, and even though she was exhausted, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep sleep for the entire night, let alone actually fall asleep in the first place.

Although somehow, and she was never sure how, she managed to close her eyes as she lay there on the bed, not even able the get the energy to put pajamas on, and finally did find some sort of sleep...even though it was one of the very thin layers that never even allowed for dream-making.

The soft touch that was a gentle kiss on her forehead brought Hermione out of her light sleep what had to be only a few minutes after midnight. Slowly, her eyes blinked open, the rest of her unmoving as she followed Severus with her eyes while he barely staggered across the room.

She didn't immediately move when he fell, knowing that her interference would only serve to worsen what she was sure would already be a horrible mood and added pain. Even though she wasn't necessarily panicked, Hermione heaved a look and a sigh of pity when he didn't get up and quietly got out of bed.

She walked past him to the wardrobe and opened a drawer where at least a hundred little potion vials sat neatly arranged, all labeled and color-coded and lifted one out, carefully examining it first before closing the drawer.

Kneeling down beside him, Hermione very carefully and gently turned him over onto his back, placing his head in her lap and uncorked the vial, emptying its contents into his mouth and then setting it aside.

A tear tried to escape from her eye, but she stiffly sniffed it back, shoving it away with her free hand, the other brushing some stray hair away from Severus' face, feeling as though if he wouldn't allow her to completely patch him up she could at least console him in some way, even if he was unconscious.

Hermione had to keep telling herself that she couldn't shed a tear for him about this, at least not while he was there; it was his choice to answer Voldemort's call...he had to. She didn't like it, Severus of course knew this, but the discussion, which had been brought up its fair share of times, had always been immediately closed because it was, as he put it, "just the way things were".

Leaning down and strategically placing light kisses on his forehead for a time put her at more of an ease and soon she was relaxed, at least knowing that he was safe for now.

A strip of sparkling sunlight make its way slowly across the floor, a result of the drapes only being closed part of the way, finally traveling to the opposite wall where Hermione still sat, a bit slumped, but a hand resting on Severus' shoulder whose head lay still in her lap.

Slightly jerking awake, Hermione briefly questioned her being on the floor and then glanced down at the man in her lap, remembering how she had ended up there.

She looked at him with slight contemplation, yet again brushing some stray hair away that obscured his eyes; eyes that were heavy with sleep. She noted how her legs had lost feeling in them, but didn't really care at that moment because as soon as her hand left Severus' face, one eye opened slowly, in a bleary state and immediately found hers.

He only felt partial confusion, remembering that he had only made it as far as to reassure himself that he was back where it was safe, where he wanted, needed to be; back at least close to her. Unfortunate as it were, only getting half way across the room before he had collapsed on the floor from the injuries he'd sustained, he took at least some comfort in the fact that Hermione had come to his aid (as much as he hated to have such help from anyone) and on top of that, had stayed with him there on the floor for the rest of the night.

"Good morning," Hermione barely whispered with a small, yet slightly unsure smile, putting her hand lightly on his cheek, almost reassuringly.

"What in Merlin's name did you pour down my throat," Severus muttered bitterly, swallowing and shaking his head in utter distaste.

Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned her head against the wall, hand moving down to rest by her side. "I'll excuse that _tone_," she said, "and the fact that you fail to allow anyone to give you any proper help because I know you've had a difficult last few weeks—"

"Months, really..." Severus interrupted groggily, shaking his head to himself, trying to stay calm with his frustration that Hermione had to yet again bring up the fact that he was, actually being a child about getting help for his injuries.

"I gave you a potion that _you_ brewed," she continued, a bit of exasperation apparent in her voice, "don't worry. It's not as if I've poisoned you."

"I wouldn't expect you to have the courage to do something so..." he trailed off as he caught sight of her expression and narrowed his eyes, finally closing them, knowing it was a battle he wouldn't not win, but of course, not willing to ever admit to it.

Hermione had enough good grace to let it go; she knew were she in his position, she would be in the same irritable state, not in any sort of friendly mood.

With what could be called an accepting look, Hermione summoned a pillow from the bed and replaced it under his head where her own lap had been and got up, her back protesting in every way after the long night, muttering something about how impossible the man was.

"And where are you going exactly." Severus asked as Hermione made her way towards the door, his eyes still closed. "Going to just leave me here on the floor?"

Hermione gave a coy smile that she knew he couldn't see, but would at least sense and paused at the door.

"I'm sorry," she half-mocked, "did you have somewhere important to be?"

No answer, only an eyebrow raised.

"That's what I thought," she said, shaking her head slightly. "I'll be right back." She laughed to herself as she went out onto the landing of the staircase and went down into the living room, which was quiet and still, suggesting Draco was still in his hidden room under the floor.

After retrieving some breakfast and a vial of a pain potion, Hermione made her way back upstairs and scoffed, although unable to hold in a grin as Severus still remained on the floor, looking a bit more awake now and in the process of becoming very grumpy indeed.

She again, shook her head and placed the food and potion down on the nightstand and walked over to him where she crouched down and looked sideways at him, trying and failing to withhold a smirk.

"Couldn't manage to get yourself up, could you," she said, readying herself for a sarcastic remark that was sure to come her way.

"I am _injured_ after all," Severus muttered sardonically, scowling as Hermione continued to smile at what a child he was acting like. "You cannot possibly expect me to 'get myself up'," he put a delicate stress on the phrase she'd just used, "can you?"

_No, I suppose not_, she thought to herself with a slight eye roll.

"Well come on then," she said finally, holding out both hands expectantly to help him to stand.

Even though Severus was reluctant to let other people help him in any situation, this one he deemed different in everyway; to him, it was means of getting closer to Hermione and if that meant receiving help from her when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself, he would swallow his pride and let her do it.

Without too much difficulty, Hermione managed to get him into a stand, (even though she knew he was partially 'faking'), and walk him over to the bed where he lay back with the shadow of a satisfied smirk on his face, eyes closed, settling back into some kind of sleep.

She watched him for a few moments, thinking he might perhaps say something else to her, but he didn't and so turned to go back downstairs and get in some more reading before the afternoon was over.

Severus, however, was not quite asleep yet and took hold of her hand just before she got out of reach. Hermione stopped and looked back at him.

With eyes still closed and seeming to just be barely awake now, he murmured quietly, "stay with me..."

Hermione sighed inaudibly and nodded slightly, taking the few steps back to the side of the bed and very carefully crawled over him, noticing how he still had a hold on her hand. She settled in on her side next to him and watched his face relax slightly at the knowledge that she was there.

After some time passed and his breathing became slower and deeper and when she was sure he had fallen asleep again, she studied his face for a moment before whispering a single word, a promise: "Always." She then closed her eyes and slipped back to sleep herself.

But she had been wrong; Severus had not quite fallen asleep again and resisted the urge to pull her close at the very moment he heard the words leave her lips, because he now knew that what had been concealed in his own heart for so long had just surfaced...

And _that_ had been it.

Hermione slowly made her way out of sleep a couple hours after Severus had requested she stay with him, only to find he was gone. She heaved a sigh of frustration and pushed herself up and off of the bed.

She knew she would never get through his thick layer of denial and pride when he was injured, but the man had just collapsed on the floor several hours ago; this, to her, said that he was in no condition to be up and about.

With every intention of going down and hexing him into submission if she had to, Hermione made her way down the stairs and into the living quarters.

Draco glanced up from what he was reading long enough to see it was Hermione and then looked away again. "He left," he said plainly, going back to the book but looking up when she tried to steadily control her breath, trying not to get upset at the fact that he had absolutely no regard for his own well being. "To go teach..." he added at Hermione's expression.

Hermione sighed in relief, closing her eyes momentarily to recompose herself a bit. That, even though it was not ideal, made her feel slightly better, knowing he was at least in the castle and not off meeting up with Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters.

"He can take care of himself, you know," Draco said, in what Hermione thought he assumed was something like a caring voice. She only responded with a half glare; finding herself too exhausted to muster a full one. And besides, Draco wasn't the one she was upset with at the moment.

Draco just sighed quietly, now staring at the page rather than reading it, waiting for the tension to cease in the room.

The two of them had been getting along quite nicely, only with occasional disagreements here and there. But the past, in light of recent events and situations, had almost been put behind them, something neither of them could even fathom the reasoning for.

The rest of the morning came and passed, Draco having retreated to his own room to take a light nap while Hermione took part in this on the sofa.

She had thought it a bit odd that Severus had not returned to even his office during the course of the day so far, but decided not to worry herself on it for the time being. She only started worrying at night, when she knew it was not Hogwarts business that kept him anymore.

_Something isn't right_, her sub-conscience was murmuring in the back of her mind as she began to drift out of a light sleep. Her head pounded. It was constant...BAM BAM BAM. _No, _she thought, as a voice rang out from the next room that was the main office. _No, someone is out there..._

"DRACO," she finally heard clearly, being completely aroused from sleep now, bolting straight upright, recognizing the voice. It yelled the name again, right at the door now. Hermione panicked a little, knowing this meant serious trouble.

Scrambling up from the sofa and around the back of it, she made it just in time for Draco to peer out of the trap door, only for her to force it closed with her wand as Lucius Malfoy burst through the door.

Hermione stopped dead, holding her wand firmly down towards the invisible door, her heart racing at an unbelievable rate, knowing she was in big trouble now.

"Well, well, well," sneered Lucius upon seeing her. "I knew Severus was hiding something here...not even—sharing—with the rest of—us." He seemed to barely be able to speak; even from where she stood Hermione could smell the stench of too many Fire Whiskies on his breath, making her want to vomit, not just from the smell but from the fact that he was drunk and potentially more dangerous now than ever because of it.

Lucius staggered over closer to where she was standing, her mind racing with thoughts of where to go, what to do. She seemed trapped, and found she indeed was.

Right as Lucius looked to be taking a steadying pause in his "walking," Hermione tried to make a run for it, dodging to the left, hoping he wouldn't react fast enough.

But he did.

Lucius lunged to his right at the same moment, reaching out and grasping a firm hold on Hermione's forearm, but losing his balance and falling forward slightly, shoving her backwards and into the wall. He, however, found this to be a good position to be in and snarled with an evil grin, as though enjoying watching his prey struggle against him.

He seemed to find this tiresome after a while though, fighting with her and so he put an end to it. "ENOUGH," he bellowed, taking her by both shoulders and crashing her against the wall again, leaning into her, the rancid stench of the whiskey pouring into Hermione's face.

She would have continued to struggle had her head not collided with the wall hard and making her feel dizzy and somewhat disoriented for a few moments. Her mind was clear enough to know she was going to have a tough time getting out of this one, but she knew she couldn't let Draco come out; his father was most likely not here to take him on a father-son camping trip.

"Where is he," Lucius snarled, right in her face, lingering there, waiting for her to answer.

Hermione glared the best she could. "What do you _want _with him so badly," she hissed, trying to cover up her immense fear with hatred, knowing normally he would never answer her, but while he was 'impaired', she knew he wouldn't be able to comprehend he was saying anything about it.

Lucius chuckled in a low, sinister yet drunken tone, still very close to her face. "The Dark Lord wishes him captured...the one who brings him will be without a doubt honored..." He paused, as if reminiscing reluctantly. "I have failed him already so many times," he continued regretfully. "But now...NOW I shall be back at his side, rewarded for bringing him my coward of a son."

Hermione only shook her head, still glaring. "You're horrible," she accused deadly. "_Your own son_?"

"That disgrace is _not_ any son of mine, not anymore," he spat, causing Hermione to flinch. A few moments silence followed before he yelled, "WHERE IS HE??"

Hermione jumped again, not having been expecting it, as she was too preoccupied with her own thoughts of how to get away, but Lucius had such a deadly grip on her arm, she had low hopes for escape.

But when she looked back at Lucius, his expression had changed, and she didn't like it one bit more than the first one.

"But you," Lucius said in a low voice, now getting closer than before, making Hermione wish that this wall was fake as well so she could just disappear through it. She could see where this was going. "You..." he reached up with his hand, very lightly brushing her cheek with it. Hermione flinched at the touch of his long, cold fingers on her face. "I think," continued Lucius, "I shall find more than one good use for you, my dear. You are coming with me. Perhaps that will prompt Severus to bring my son to me. If he doesn't, then I suppose there is still," he paused, seeming to be thinking of the right wording to use, "advantages for me," he finished with such a grin it made Hermione feel sick to her stomach.

"I'm not going _anywhere_ with you," she all but snarled, trying once more to struggle away, but no such luck.

Another amused chuckle as he reached up with his wand and a malicious grin, silently putting her out of it before she even had time to do anything about it.

Hermione tried to fight it as she felt her body going weak and numb, losing sight of the living room, every sense in her body leaving her as the spell took over.

Lucius picked up her now limp body and started to leave, but turned to face the room as he passed the sofa. "I know you're here, Draco," he said into the air. "You know where to find me. If she's trying to save you, you'll come for her. I'll be waiting."

He waited for a moment looking around suspiciously, before turning to leave only pausing when he saw a cloak draped over the nearby chair.

"An invisibility cloak," he murmured to himself. "This will be good to have, wont it," he asked to the empty room, picking it up and throwing it over Hermione, erasing her from sight. With that, he flashed his evil, satisfied grin once more before laughing manically and leaving, slamming the door behind him.


	13. To the Rescue

Draco rammed his shoulder hard against the door above him, knowing Hermione was holding it closed with her wand and knowing his father was out there, looking for him.

One attempt after the other, the door would not budge. He heard the sound of the door slamming, most likely to the office. "Come on..." he muttered, taking another shot at the door, this time with is wand. It successfully flew open, banging against the floor of the living quarters.

Draco leapt out, ready for whatever situation was waiting for him, but nothing. The room was empty, and he knew his father had taken her.

Why he was feeling so upset about this slightly baffled him. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would be jumping to the rescue of Hermione Granger, the mudblood know-it-all...and a Gryffindor to top it all off. Not to mention she was Potter's close friend, but right now, after the two of them had seemed to put that at least partially behind them, he was furious that his father even had the nerve to show up to take him back to the Dark Lord, let alone kidnap Hermione as bait.

He took off towards the direction of the office door, intending to follow when he caught himself, grudgingly, knowing Severus would be furious if he came back and they were _both_ gone. And who was he kidding; he knew what was happening between him and Hermione and he would be just as upset, if not more that she had been taken as a way to lure Draco out of hiding.

Draco decided upon his better option: enlisting in some help before making any rash decisions...something he was surprised he held a thought pattern to stop himself from doing.

Turning on his heels and practically running back to where he'd started from, he went without hesitation into the fake wall that lead to the kitchens where he hoped he would be able to gain access to the rest of the castle without drawing too much attention to himself.

Finding the stairs to be too time consuming, Draco simply jumped from the top, miraculously landing on his feet somehow, but still managing to cause the table to break under the strain.

"Why do people keep _doing that?!_" Came a somewhat worried-sounding voice from somewhere in the room ahead of him. He recognized it immediately.

"What are _you_ doing here, _Longbottom," _Draco sneered. Just because he was being "nice" to one Gryffindor, did not mean he had to show the same courtesy to another one.

"_Malfoy?_" Neville said with the same tone of voice, causing Draco to be taken aback slightly, not thinking the great lummox had the courage in him to speak like that.

"Where's Hermione," Neville asked strongly, trying to keep his voice strong. Draco gave him a questioning look. How did he know?

"You know she's here," he asked. _Was here..._he added to himself grudgingly.

Neville furrowed his brow and nodded, seeming to become more worried with every passing moment Draco did not answer his question. However it had just crossed Draco's mind that no matter how much he did not want to become friendly by any means with Neville Longbottom, he could be a somewhat safer means of getting to Severus.

"Neville," he said suddenly in a strain, swallowing hard, trying to be decent. Neville looked stricken, or perhaps had the notion that Draco Malfoy had suddenly taken ill. But Draco continued on anyways, thinking of how much time was already being wasted. "I—" he paused, almost unable to say it. "I need your...help," he finished, looking away from Neville's shocked face.

Neville, however, recovered quickly. "And _why_ should I help you, _Malfoy,_" he shot back at him. Draco looked up at his name. The name, he just found, he did not want to be associated with at this point. But he let it go.

"It's Hermione," he said, cutting off Neville who looked like he was about to go on a rant of all the reasons why he shouldn't help. At the sound of his friend's name, Neville's mouth closed and he looked a bit panicked, listening now.

"She's been kidnapped," he explained bluntly, having no time for a lengthy explanation. Neville's eyes widened in horror and looked to be about to open his mouth to ask more questions but Draco cut him off.

"I'm not exactly supposed to be here," he continued. "I need you to go get Professor Snape and get him back to the office. Tell him what's happened. My father came for me but took her as," he paused, not wanting to say it. "Bait," he finished with hatred in his voice.

Neville didn't even seem phased at the fact he had to face Snape, he only nodded solidly, and was already walking towards the kitchen doors. Draco only hoped Severus wouldn't react as...rash as he was likely to.

Neville made his way down the corridors of the castle, hoping that Snape wasn't teaching at the moment because he knew it would not please him to be interrupted, and he could hardly blurt out 'Hermione's in trouble' in front of a whole class without giving that whole secret away.

Of course, Neville being the unlucky person he was, rounded the corner and came to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to find Snape in the midst of teaching a third year class about Bogarts. He stood in the doorway, breathing a little harder than normal, having a fleeting memory of this class in his own third year as he waited for Snape to see him.

After what seemed like forever, Severus happened to glance in his direction, furrowing his brow slightly for a moment before looking back down at his desk again where he seemed to be grading the students on their answers to the questions he was asking.

"I'm quite busy, Longbottom," he said so the whole class turned and looked back at the doorway. "I'm sure it was difficult for you to tell, but I'm teaching, you see," he added with a pronounced sneer, causing a few snickers to wave through the room.

Neville breathed a little deeper to keep his anger at the man under control. He couldn't really lose it now.

When Neville said nothing to his rude remark, Severus glanced up again. The class, assuming Neville had left, had gone back to reading the textbook, awaiting the next question.

All Neville could think of to do at that second was mouth _Hermione, _a worried look on his tired face, hoping Snape would understand.

Immediately, Neville knew it had worked; Severus didn't take his eyes off of Neville's for several moments; Neville nodded very discretely, moving his head off in a direction behind him suggesting he needed to come now.

Finally, Severus looked away, glancing around the classroom with his eyes fleetingly, suddenly standing up and beginning to walk towards the door, casually dismissing the class on his way.

He brushed past Neville who stood there, not knowing whether to stand there or stay and listen to the cheers of the students in the classroom next to him.

When Severus realized Neville was still standing there, he stopped and turned. "Longbottom," he hissed. Neville jerked his head to look at the professor, understanding he wanted him to go with him. When he reached his side, Severus began to walk again, looking straight ahead, on a mission now.

"Speak quietly, speak fast," he ordered to Neville. "What happened?"

"I—I don't know, sir," he said nervously. Severus closed his eyes for a moment to keep himself from lashing out. "Malfoy just found me in the kitchens. He told me to find you because his father was here and he took her," he finished, his voice wavering at the end, obviously feeling upset about this as well.

Something inside of Severus' chest tightened at these words, a panic shooting through him as they reached the gargoyle hiding the staircase. At the sound of the password, the gargoyle stepped aside and the two of them stepped on the rotating staircase, Severus climbing two steps at a time, leaving Neville somewhat panting behind him.

Draco, who seemed to have been pacing, looked up when the door opened, reaching for Hermione's wand, which had fallen, lowering it when he saw to relief who it was.

"What happened, Draco," Severus asked, trying to remain calm, not allowing the panic to show in his face.

Draco shook his head, taking a steadying breath out of what looked to be extreme irritation.

"My father showed up," he said, sounding indeed irritated yet furious at the same time, not to mention worried himself. "I was in my room," he continued, "I would have come up and done something but she held the door down with her wand. I couldn't get out and by the time I was able to he had taken her as...as...bait. They were gone..." he trailed off sounding upset that she'd not allowed him to come out but still worried at the current situation.

Severus seemed to be doing some very quick thinking; Neville and Draco watched him, Neville seeming to just be nervous to be standing there in the presence of two death eaters who seemed genuinely concerned with the whereabouts of his friend.

"Do you still know of the wards at the Malfoy Manor," he directed to Draco, who nodded seriously.

"Then we go now," Severus stated without more hesitation and began towards the door. Draco nodded as followed, taking Hermione's fallen wand with him.

Neville didn't move. Not only was this too much for him to take in during the span of the last fifteen minutes, but he didn't know whether to follow or go back to what he was doing. He couldn't imagine why Snape would need him to accompany them either.

"Longbottom!" Severus called impatiently from the office, causing Neville to jump out of his thoughts. Startled, he scurried to the door, realizing he probably shouldn't just be standing around in the Headmaster's private quarters.

Neville didn't expect to be going on this rescue mission of sorts, but before he knew what was happening, he was practically jogging to keep up with Severus and Draco as they made their way across the grounds.

Draco's expression had made it perfectly clear that he did not approve of Neville's accompaniment, but any questioning on his part had been silenced with a subtle glare from Severus.

The somewhat chilly air stung at their lungs until they stopped at the large iron gates to the Hogwarts grounds, preparing to Apparate once outside the protection of the school's protective charms.

"You _can_ Apparate, can't you," Draco asked condescendingly to Neville who only gave a nervous nod as if standing out there in the middle of the day with two wanted men was just the thing that would finally send his nerves over the edge.

Severus said nothing, only hoping that Longbottom would actually be able to do it. He had asked him to come along because he knew while Neville was an utter failure at nearly every task set before him, he also knew the friendship between him and Hermione and the fact that that was the reason for this entire thing would hopefully give Neville the courage to what he knew the boy was actually capable of.

Holding the gate open and ushering Draco and Neville through, he closed it behind himself and looked at them for certain confirmation they knew what they were doing...and then with three simultaneous pops, the three of them disappeared.

Malfoy Manor, once something to look at was now dismal, reminding Severus of his home he lived in as a child. The moss and other plant life had wound its way over the sides of the large house; the trees had no leaves left to them, only ghostly-looking branches hanging down everywhere. A pathway, once blooming and green but was now dead and decaying led up to the house, winding and seeming to twist. The place looked positively sinister.

Severus, Draco, and Neville stood outside of the gates, Severus trying to devise at least some sort of rough plan in his mind versus shielding his eyes and just running is, cutting down whatever may be in his path until he reached his goal.

He glanced to his left where Draco was standing, glaring through the bars of the gates at his home; a home, he noticed, Draco no longer wanted to be a part of. To his right, Neville seemed to be nearly shaking with fear. But other than the fear pouring off of him, Severus could also feel that Neville was mentally trying to calm himself, determined to do something for Hermione and prove Draco wrong.

Finally, he looked back over to Draco who just nodded, still staring straight ahead and took a few steps back. He never took his eyes off of the house as he quietly muttered the spells to take the wards down. Immediately, the gates opened themselves, slowly, drawlingly.

Severus took a deep breath and after motioning to Draco to proceed forward to take the rest of the charms and spells down, followed him, Neville falling in behind and taking up the rear.

When the three of them reached the door to the manor, Severus stopped them and looked around as if checking for any other presences before continuing.

"I know you both understand the danger in there; if I tell you to run, you will. Understood?" He looked at them both expectantly. Neville didn't move, unsure exactly of how he felt about leaving if Hermione was still somewhere in the house. Draco, however, daringly shook his head quietly, shooting his look right into Severus' face, refusing to be one to flee.

Severus looked at him warningly, moving his head to the side and raising an eyebrow as if daring him to argue. Draco wasn't fazed; he rivaled Severus' look with one of his own. Severus decided to let it be for the time being; he knew Draco would be able to take care of himself...however he did not want to be the one responsible for either of the young boys' deaths should it come to that. Besides that fact, if Draco was killed that would be certain death for Severus himself as he was, at this moment, still bound to protect him.

Moving his eyes back to the door, Severus made a few subtle wand movements and the door to the manor creaked open a few inches to reveal blackness. He glanced back at Neville and Draco who nodded; Neville only swallowed, gripping his wand tighter, waiting now.

With his foot, Severus gave the door a shove and it swung open into the black entryway...and then he led the way in.


	14. The Unexpected

"Keep struggling as much as you want, you'll never break lose."

A malicious voice.

Evil, pure evil.

He was drunk too. She had known that since he had burst in back at Hogwarts. But having just come-to from being knocked out more or less, and finding herself actually tied with rope to a chair in a bedroom, Hermione had started to struggle even though she knew it was no good.

She glared up at Lucius through the hair that had fallen over her face and she hadn't bothered to push it back yet. Yes, she was scared, of course she was, but she couldn't let him know that and she certainly wouldn't allow herself to become any weaker because of it.

Lucius sneered. "You will lead them both right to my door," he stopped talking momentarily and in a flash was right in front of her, his putrid breath making her feel sick to her stomach. "I will be honored above all for bringing the traitor...and the failure."

"Traitor," she said in all but a growl. "What exactly are you talking about?" She knew she had to at least try and save some part of Severus' appearance with Voldemort. Right now she knew that he was still highly trusted by Voldemort, even though she was quite sure some of the Death Eaters had hunches that said otherwise, much like Lucius Malfoy here.

"Oh I think you know very well what I'm talking about, Mudblood," he spat. When Hermione only gave him a look of what she hoped was ignorance, he continued in a furious tone, obviously upset at Severus' ability to supposedly fool the Dark Lord.

"There is only one reason you are still alive and have not been delivered to the Dark Lord. You are being hidden, this I know. He is _helping you_...I can't prove it—oh not just yet—but that evening in the woods when you _disappeared_," he put a sarcastic stress on the word, "I know who it was who came from no where and saved you. Disgraceful. Shameful...an utter disappointment, I should say, to the entirety of Death Eaters. Makes me sick," he finished, then suddenly roughly taking hold of Hermione by the chin, jerking her head, forcing it to tilt up and backwards slightly, the grip painful.

"They'll be here any minute, you know," he said in a low voice. "And oh, when they do, justice will surely be given. That you can be sure of." With that, he leaned in very close; Hermione shuddered knowing evil was so close to her. She flinched and tried to lean away from him as he started to move his face down to her neck, barely touching her skin, only the feeling of his hot, drunken breath.

An ice-cold hand moved down her arm and onto her upper leg. When she suspected Lucius was about to put his disgusting mouth on her, she took the opportunity and kneed him as hard as she possibly could. He growled in pain and stumbled backwards, doubled over, breathing hard.

"You insolent little _wretch_," he spat as he regained some composure. Without any warning, he smacked her across the face with the back of his hand. Hermione's head swung to the side, but she didn't flinch or cry out; she wouldn't be giving him the satisfaction. Instead she waited for a few seconds before slowly turning her head back to glare daggers at him. "Bravery won't get you very far in this house, Mudblood."

Hermione was sure he would strike her again. Suddenly though, he stopped whatever he was about to do, Hermione getting a sickening feeling as the reason. Lucius' face had brightened somewhat, a twisted, evil grin on his mouth. She did not like the looks of this one bit.

"They've arrived," he said with a glint in his eye to suggest he had been waiting for this for a long time now. Hermione could say nothing; her stomach had just taken a dive both at the notion that they came to rescue her and that the idiots had just walked right into his trap.

_So far, so good,_ Severus thought optimistically as the three of them began to ascend a flight of stairs off the foyer, which they had managed to cross without triggering

any alarms, although he knew better than to think any part of this would be easy. He would not let his guard down, no matter what.

Severus was now in the lead as Draco was sure all of the wards he knew of were down and he did not want Neville or Draco to be in the direct line of fire should anything unexpected come out of the shadows.

Just as he thought this, however, he took his next step and found that it no longer existed, these thoughts only registering as he began to fall forward into what was now a gaping, black hole in the staircase.

There was no time to yell out. He was falling...wait, no. Something grabbed his arm and back of his robes from behind him, pulling him back as he heard the crumbling sound of wood from where he had just stood.

Turning around, he quickly hid his surprise as the scared face of Neville Longbottom came to his eyes, Neville just having released his hold on Severus' cloak. He himself looking a bit shocked at what he had just done.

Draco probably looked the most shocked, looking from Neville to the new hole in the stairs, and then up to Severus several times; his mouth slightly open at what had just happened.

Severus straightened up and looking Neville straight in the face said with the most sincerity he had ever found while speaking to the boy, "thank you."

Neville seemed to have momentarily lost all senses he possessed at the notion that Severus Snape had just thanked him, not to mention the fact that he had probably just saved the man's life. He stood there, senseless, for a couple more seconds before he realized that the other two were cautiously making their way around the gaping hole in the staircase and he was still not moving.

In another instant, Draco found himself being shot backwards, a spell hitting him hard in the chest to send him all the way back down to the foyer.

Severus cursed out loud as he flung a spell into the dark where Lucius was standing and had begun to laugh manically when it missed.

"Go help Draco," he hurriedly said to Neville in a low voice, not looking back as he kept his eyes fixed at the darkness in front of him, waiting for Lucius' next move to come. He concentrated fully on his target after he heard Neville shuffle backwards and go back down the staircase.

"So you've come, Snape," Lucius said after his laughing died out. Severus held his ground, listening with his ears and his mind as hard as he could; he could not yet see where Lucius was. "I knew you would," Lucius added with what must have been a malicious grin.

_He knows,_ Severus thought as he sidestepped a flash of red light which crashed into the banister, blowing the chunk of wood into pieces. He sent back several curses, hoping to draw Lucius out.

"What made you so sure," Severus countered evenly, aiming yet another stunner in front of him. He heard it find its mark as a thud was felt and heard on the floor not that far up on the landing.

Moving slightly sideways, Severus climbed the remainder of the stairs and upon lighting his wand, saw a heap of robes lying on the ground.

Although, he knew Lucius wouldn't stay that way for long...and for that, he would be prepared.

Draco curled up into a ball, trying to ease the searing pain that had just hit his chest and back, not to mention his head from hitting the ground. He clutched his stomach, feeling like he would vomit at any moment, sure that his father had now completely lost it.

It took him a moment to remember why Neville Longbottom's face had appeared as he knelt down, apparently wishing to help. He was all ready with a true Slytherin-like insult when he remembered what Longbottom had just done, and that he was obviously now at his side to help.

"A-Are you alright," Neville whispered nervously, not knowing what else to say. It was quite obvious, too, that he was shaking.

Draco groaned as Neville bravely took him under the arm to help him to stand. As he rose, the pain seared again, but Draco clenched his teeth hard and breathed through them, trying not to lean on Neville too much, afraid of showing he was weak to someone he had tried to be so superior to for most of his life at school.

"We should get to Hermione," Draco said, breathing with a little difficulty.

Neville paused a moment. "But what about—"

"He'll be fine," Draco cut him off, holding his torso again, trying to breathe so it didn't hurt so much. "I'll come and take care of my _father_ after we find her," he added with resentment.

"Do you know where she is," Neville asked, nerves rising again, unsure still of what he was doing here, afraid of being in the way at all.

"I suspect he'll have her upstairs somewhere," Draco said quietly. "This way." He moved to his right to a set of doors off the foyer, pulling Neville along who still was slightly supporting him under the arm.

The doors revealed a smaller staircase leading to a long corridor with many doors in it once they had reached the top. Draco now walked on his own, only with a slight limp out of pain, but he managed it.

Neville said nothing as he followed, Draco seeming to be looking for the right door. Even with both wands lit, they found it difficult to see because of the mustiness of the hall which seemed to be caked in a layer of dust. It was as if no one had occupied it for a very long time.

"Here," Draco finally whispered stopping in front of a door in the middle of the hallway. "This is the one, it has to be." He began to study it, as if contemplating how to get in and trying to anticipate any wards his father may have placed there.

"Stand back," he ordered as he readied his wand, pointing it at the door and muttering _Alohomora _and then shielding himself, expecting the worst.

Nothing happened. The door opened a fraction and Draco lowered his wand only a fraction of an inch, still waiting. When nothing else happened, he glanced back at Neville who was watching apprehensively from the other side of the hall, and then gave the door a good kick.

Neville moved up to stand next to Draco in the doorway as a cloud of dust that had surfaced from the door cleared. When it was gone, the two of them felt simultaneous waves of relief as the dark outline of a person sitting on a chair was revealed in the middle of the room.

Hermione immediately jerked to attention as she heard the lock on the door click. A wave of internal pain hit her; Lucius had gotten them and now he was coming to gloat in his disgusting glory and then, she swallowed, take her in his own way.

Apprehensively, she waited and then jumped when the door suddenly banged open as if kicked. She coughed as a cloud of dust became unsettled from the door and carpet, her heart now racing at an alarming pace.

She screamed in shock as two figures suddenly rushed at her and came right up to the side of the chair she was sitting on, only to stifle the yell when she actually looked, realizing who it was.

"Neville? Draco?" She was panted in a whisper, stunned but extremely relieved as one of them began to work at getting her untied.

"What are you doing here, are you completely insane!?" she said as she finally found her voice again. "Don't you realize this is a trap?"

"Of course we realize it's a trap," Draco said exasperatedly as he hurriedly began to undo the restraints behind the chair. When Hermione scoffed as if to say she wasn't important enough for them to risk their lives, he stopped and looked her in the eye. "You didn't actually think we'd _leave you here_, did you," he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She only responded with an obvious look and shook her head. Draco returned the same obvious look and returned to freeing her, seeming to have a bit of difficulty with the last knot his father had tied.

A very loud bang jolted all of them just as Draco had finally managed to undo the last knot, sending Hermione back into the chair from which she had just stood up.

"What—was that," she asked, half not wanting to know the answer.

"That would uh, probably be professor Snape and um, well, Draco's father..." Neville said a bit nervously as if the thought of the two wizards battling downstairs was positively frightening to him. Hermione's heart jumped; she hadn't heard anything after 'Professor Snape'. It hadn't even crossed her mind that Severus might also be here right now. Well, it had...but fleetingly. She, for some now odd-seeming reason, didn't think he would expose himself to that kind of danger by coming to rescue her.

Another blast shook her out of her thoughts and made the three of them try and hold their balance as the floor shook beneath them.

"We should go," Draco pointed out, nodding his head toward the door. "Come on."

Hermione nodded and looked to Neville who still looked positively frightened. The questioning of _his _presence here then crossed her mind but only briefly because he ushered her out in front of him and she decided she would have to ponder that later...assuming they all made it out of here alive.

More crashes could be heard as they neared the staircase to the foyer. Draco lead the way, walking cautiously to make sure all was clear for the other two behind him.

As they came to the landing of the stairs, the sounds of the fight below them were louder. It was clear that the two men were using non verbal spell casting as no voiced spells were heard.

Hermione cringed as she heard a maniacal laugh that followed directly after a large crash, suggesting the receiver had most likely just been thrown into something very big and probably wooden.

The scene they came upon was horrific: Lucius' long, blonde hair was hanging down in wet, bloody strings over his face, revealing a nose that was surely broken. One side of his robes was torn and hanging off of his body in rags to show a part of his shoulder that was also bleeding.

Severus looked somewhat better off, or at least that's what Hermione thought from the view she had of him. He only seemed to be bleeding slightly from the top of his forehead at the hairline; although, she also noticed there looked like there was a large-sized gash on his left thigh, but he was ignoring it, as he was the other injury.

The two of them were now circling each other, starting one another down, both looking as though fire would erupt from them at any given moment. Lucius, unfortunately, seemed to catch the movement on the stairs out of the corner of his eye and an even more evil grin appeared on his slightly mangled face.

"Well, well, well," he sneered. "Looks like my son has freed the Mudblood." He laughed coldly; not in the least bit amused. Draco glared, venom etched in every line of his face. He gripped his wand tighter and stepped down one more stair.

Severus looked up and caught Hermione's eye, a look of relief passing through his own briefly before returning his attention to Lucius who seemed to have forgotten he was in the middle of a duel and was now clearly focused on Draco.

But Draco had just taken his eyes off of his father as he came down a few more stairs which revealed more of the hall...and a heap of black robes laying on the floor near the wall to the left.

When Draco stopped dead on the staircase, Lucius, Severus, Hermione, and Neville all turned their attention to where his was. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, knowing what he was seeing, remembering what had happened when she'd first arrived in the house, and wishing she'd had the common sense to give Draco warning before coming downstairs. However, now it was too late and he had seen it, almost instantly understanding that the heap that lay on the floor was Narcissa, his mother.

Narcissa had tried to stop Lucius from what he was doing, pleading with him to leave it be; she had only wanted her family safe at this point. She had not petitioned for Hermione's release out loud of course, but she certainly did not agree with the decisions Lucius had just made. In the end of a battle of words and a few flying curses at each other, he killed her without so much as a second glance. He had knocked Hermione out a second time in frustration before bringing her upstairs.

Cautiously, Hermione moved down to the step that Draco was standing on and reached out to his arm but right at that moment he lashed out.

"_What did you do_," he cursed nearly under his breath, the words almost choking in his throat. Hermione was sure he was holding back tears as he confronted his father.

"She got in the way," he said very simply, dismissively, waving a hand like he was swishing at a pesky fly.

Hermione found herself shaking her head in utter disgust at what she was hearing. She was almost ready to curse the wretched man herself when Draco, seeming to forget he had a wand, charged down the stairs in a rage, ready to tackle his father.

For a moment, Lucius seemed stunned that someone was running down the stairs at him, but just as he remembered himself and readied his wand to strike him down, Draco went flying off to the side.

Hermione looked over just in time for her to see Severus lower his wand. It took her a moment to realize that he'd probably just saved Draco's life.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Lucius roared as he too realized what Severus had done. Hermione took her opportunity while Lucius was preoccupied elsewhere to also get down the stairs, to at least protect Draco.

Lucius, however, was not as occupied with Severus as she'd thought.

"No!" He screamed as he sent a jinx to hit her directly in the side, sending her flying directly at Severus who seemed to nearly catch her, causing them both to tumble backwards, the end result leaving Hermione unconscious.

At this point, trying to keep up appearances was nearly useless, Severus knew this; he knew that either Lucius or himself would triumph today, although there was no certainty of which one it would be, so it didn't phase him to try and aid Hermione in some way whilst trying to form another plan in his head to stop this mad man from killing anyone else.

Seeming satisfied with his work, Lucius began to turn back to finish off his son, only to be knocked backwards by a spell. Furious, he looked up to see Draco staggering towards him with a slight limp, but a very stone hard, determined look on his face. He too now seemed murderous.

Lucius began to laugh, staggering still from the spell. Draco was now fuming that this man he would never again call his father was laughing at him.

"Pathetic," Lucius spat. "Worthless little boy!"

"Shut UP!" Draco screamed, nearly choking again.

Lucius continued to laugh like a maniac. "Too much for you,_ son_?"

"I am _not_ your _son_," spat Draco venomously. "STUPEFY!" He screamed after a pause, catching Lucius off guard slightly, but enough to allow the spell to hit him squarely in the chest, sending _him _flying backwards now.

Draco took a few steadying breathes before limping over, standing above him with his wand pointed directly in the bloodied face still full with malicious, evil, unrealistic laughter.

"Are you going to kill me, Draco," Lucius sneered up at the tip of the wand, laughing yet again. "Hmm," he continued to taunt, "can't do it? Don't want my death on your conscience, boy?"

"It WON'T be on my conscience," Draco now raged, becoming more and more angered by the second.

"Then _do it_. DO IT! YOU WORTHLESS, NO GOOD, USELESS BOY! KILL ME YOU COWARD!"

"SHUT—UP!" Draco screamed again, but Lucius only started to laugh again, quietly at first and then practically throwing his head back, closed his eyes and began to roar with laughter.

"You're the worthless one, old friend...and Draco is above putting your miserable life to an end."

Lucius opened his eyes and nearly choked on his laughter as it died away at the sight of not Draco, but Severus who now stood over him, his want pointed directly into his face.

"Goodbye."

Faintly, as she came to, Hermione heard the curse, heard Severus' voice say it but did not dare look over in case her ears had betrayed her. She lay quite still for another moment, a million horrible things running through her mind before someone knelt next to her. Briefly she started to recoil, only to relax when familiar hands gently touched an arm and a shoulder, helping her to sit up.

Sadness very present in her eyes, she looked up at Severus who seemed emotionless except for a small hint of relief.

He looked at her for another brief moment, speaking silent words that he knew she would understand in his eyes. With a subtle nod, Hermione allowed him to pull her to stand. She put a hand on her forehead to steady herself and gain her bearings back as Severus carefully walked back over to Draco.

Neville walked up cautiously next to Hermione. Seeing him, having almost forgotten that he had been there, Hermione looked up when he touched her arm, realizing how unnerved he must be by all that had just happened. She knew no words would suffice at this moment, no words for any of them, least of all Draco.

He had managed to stagger over to where his mother lay. She was helpless, unmoving, her life ended unfairly trying to protect her family and even though she knew the woman would never have admitted it, Hermione had a feeling that Narcissa had in a way been trying to protect her as well.

Hermione looked over to where Draco had dropped to his knees next to Narcissa's body. He was just staring at her, almost as if it would make her come back to life. Hermione found Severus' eyes briefly, understanding passing between them that they needed to leave Malfoy Manor as soon as possible; Voldemort would surely know that two of his closest Death Eaters were dead and they wouldn't be safe there much longer.

Severus strode over to Lucius with an eerie and satisfied, yet grim look on his face and bent over to pick up his wand. He twirled it in his fingers as he looked down on a man that he had nearly wished this upon for a long time now.

"Hermione—" he said warningly in a quiet voice as he noticed her walking behind him towards Draco. He took hold of her wrist without turning around. She said nothing, barely turned around to face him, but she didn't pull away. She assumed he didn't think it wise for her to try and console Draco at all; that he thought it would only make it worse. Although, she did have a feeling that was because Severus would never want anyone pouring over him while he mourned. There was a chance, however, that Draco might be different.

When Severus finally turned to show a very warningly obvious expression, as if to tell her to leave him be, she only shook her head. "No one should be alone when they're dealing with this," she barely whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "I should know," she said even more quietly as a determined afterthought. At this, Severus' brow creased ever so slightly in questioning but said nothing more and dropped her wrist.

She looked at him once more before turning again, cautiously coming up behind Draco, unwilling to startle him and upset him more. The horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach would not budge as she approached him, noticing that he had picked up Narcissa's ghost-white hand from the floor and was now simply holding it.

"Leave me alone," he croaked in a sad voice that was barely audible, but it was not truthful. He didn't want to be alone; Hermione could hear it in his voice. She paid no attention to it though and crouched down next to him. She could feel Severus watching her as she reached a hand to place it on Draco's shoulder very lightly.

Draco hung his head a fraction lower, trying to hold back his tears...but they wouldn't stay. It was as if the emotion that allowed one to sob uncontrollably had just suddenly been turned on for him; first it was only a few heaves of tears, which then turned into near hysterical sobbing. He leaned into Hermione who put her arm around his other shoulder, needing to sit back instead of crouch as Draco was leaning his full weight onto her now.

A few tears of her own found their way down Hermione's cheek as well as she sat there and let Draco cry into her shoulder.

After a time, Hermione glanced up to Severus who hadn't moved from where he stood above Lucius' body, watching and waiting. She could tell he was anxious to leave the manor and didn't blame him, however she had no intention of uprooting Draco from his mother's body so soon.

But the look on Severus' face soon became slightly more urgent-seeming and when Hermione made no indication of getting Draco up, Severus decided it was time to leave.

Hermione looked up at him when he walked over to them, nearly standing directly over Draco, gazing down with only his eyes. Hermione tried to give him a look to say to let him be for a few moments longer but a slight shake of the head, as if it were final, stopped her and she nodded with reluctant acceptance that he was right.

They somehow had managed to get Draco to stand up and after several tries, nearly pulled him from the house. He had become very silent and still once outside in the dying sunlight. He looked straight ahead, eyes and face blank and devoid of any kind of expression whatsoever as he slowly followed the other three. Hermione walked slightly behind Neville and Severus to stay closer to Draco just in case.

No one uttered a single word as they walked along to a clear spot to apparate back to Hogwarts. Four distinct _pops_ ensued, one by one, as they apparated, each appearing back in front of the main gates of the school.

It was beginning to get dark as they started walking up the path to the school. Hermione and Draco were concealed under Harry's cloak which Neville had went and retrieved from upstairs in the manor before they had left.

To anyone glancing out of a window, they would probably find the very strange sight of Neville Longbottom walking alongside Severus Snape and wonder what in the world the two of them could possibly be doing coming back from the front gates at this hour of the day; most especially because both people had ironically gone missing slightly after lunch earlier in the day. Coincidence? Perhaps not, some of them might think.

Fortunately, they didn't meet anyone in the corridors on the way back to the Headmaster's office. Draco continued to be mute as they entered the living room. He seemed so defeated; it nearly tore Hermione up to just see someone like that, no matter who they were.

She almost had a thought to say something to him but words didn't make it out of her mouth in time because no sooner did he leave her side from under the cloak, he made his way down to his room concealed under the floor and disappeared from sight.

Hermione stopped where she was and didn't turn around. Severus said nothing. She could feel his eyes on the back of her head again but only momentarily. When she also said nothing and didn't turn to face him, he brushed past her almost passively and went down to talk with Draco. Hermione stared straight ahead as he went by, unable to look at him because even though he hadn't said anything, she had a feeling he was upset with her.

It was several hours later and dark outside when Severus emerged from Draco's room. Hermione hadn't bothered to put any lights on in the room; the only source of light coming from the small rays of moonlight that were peeking through the windows.

Hermione had begun to submit to her mind in the last few hours, thinking about a lot of what had just happened. Somehow, she had made her way over to Dumbledore's old muggle jukebox. What had drawn her to it, she didn't really know; maybe it was nothing; maybe she just found it comforting because it was the one thing in that room that she was familiar with at that moment.

She heard him open and close the door and mutter a spell to make it disappear but she didn't move. She could tell he was once again looking at her, perhaps contemplating what to say. Even though she still wasn't looking at him, his demeanor was softened somewhat from what it had been earlier.

"It happened in the summer," she said without warning in a very quiet voice, so quiet, had Severus not had near excellent hearing he would have had to strain to know what she had said. "Two years ago..." she added. Severus didn't ask any questions; he knew he didn't have to. She was going to tell this story whether he was tuned in, asking questions or not.

"We had been shopping at this muggle mall downtown in London," she continued, still in a barely audible whisper, an indicator that it was difficult for her to talk about. "We couldn't find the car, the parking lot was so packed. I decided we should split up..." she trailed off, semi-noticing how Severus had been slowly moving closer to her with very small, silent steps.

"We were laughing..." she paused again, trying to find her words. "I couldn't see her but I could hear her. We were laughing at the...absurdity of how we couldn't even find a car." She shook her head. He was closer to her now.

"And then out of no where...it just—happened." She continued to shake her head. "I heard the car and the tires screech...the horn telling her to get out of the way, but it was too late..." A tear hit her hand unexpectantly as Severus closed the inches between them but still did not move to touch her, unsure of what he should do.

"I remember I yelled for her; I was terrified of what I knew had just happened but I refused to come to terms with it until I actually saw it. It was true though...it was just—true."

Severus hung his head slightly. Hermione could feel his shallow breathing near her neck but still she didn't look away from the songs in the jukebox.

After what seemed like a long time, Hermione spoke again, still as quiet as before. "She was in a coma for two months and then she just died...all because of one misjudgment that cost her...her life." She slowly ran her hand across the jukebox's smooth glass surface. She couldn't cry though, tears would no longer come because she had convinced herself to move on. It hadn't been easy, but it had to be done. Much had been at stake here at Hogwarts at that time as well and as much as it hurt Hermione to do it, she had to try and put it at the back of her mind if she valued her own life at all.

"After it happened, after she died, I just had to keep telling myself one thing over and over again..."

Severus, who had been silent this entire time as Hermione poured out one of her most painful memories, looked up as she said this and paused momentarily before drawing a slow breath and speaking.

"That it was beyond your control," he said slowly, not so much as a question but a statement, as if he understood. But Hermione shook her head, furrowing her brow slightly at his words.

"No," she said, still shaking her head and taking a breath of her own before looking up at him for the first time with fierce eyes. "That it would_ never_ happen again," she said, the strength in her voice coming back. "I refuse to lose another friend that way. I refuse to lose _anyone_ that way," she added in reference to him as he raised an eyebrow when she said the word 'friend'_._

"It's something I never would have gotten through had it not been for my friends. They pulled me through...we pulled each other through," she said, voice becoming stronger still. "That's why I couldn't leave him earlier. I know that feeling...I know," she finished, looking away again, the image of Draco kneeling at the body of his dead mother only hours earlier replaying in her mind. She knew it was a memory she would not soon lose.

The song the jukebox had been playing ended and Hermione jumped slightly, startled when it began to switch records. As it started to play, she smiled a fraction at the familiarity of the old song. It didn't take long for Severus to take advantage of the new, slower tune. He ran a hand down her arm slowly, lightly, visibly giving her goosebumps, speeding up her breathing although all of it she tried to hide, but in vain it was.

She turned her head half way, looking at him out of the corner of her eye, her breath becoming louder as she tried to slow it down. She closed her eyes and swallowed, heart fluttering like a wild butterfly. Oh, what he did to her...

When she opened them, he had gently taken hold of her hand and walked her away from the jukebox. Hermione now looked up into his eyes where she immediately became lost as he pulled her up close to him to dance.

It was a quiet sort of dance, only moving ever so slowly to the gentle sway of Unchained Melody. Hermione closed her eyes once again and rested her cheek on his shoulder, holding him around the middle, taking enjoyment and overall comfort in the way he was holding her in return.

She knew she could probably stay that way forever; it would be so easy to just forget the world completely and allow this, allow him, to consume her every thought and move for the rest of life. But as easy as her heart said it was, her mind told her different when it somehow began to push her about what had happened; that, and the thought that Severus had indeed been upset with her for trying to protect Draco.

He felt it, the change that suddenly occurred in her thoughts. He certainly didn't mean to feel it, but when he was being so open as he was at this moment, everything sort of flew in at once without his say so.

He looked down at the top of her head, thinking of a safe way to enquire without getting into something he would regret asking about.

"Something troubles you," he said carefully in observance. "Tell me." He could tell she was thinking, her mind starting to run at what she wanted to say.

"If I tell you what I'm thinking will you answer truthfully," she asked quietly, not looking up but only staring ahead over his shoulder, just listening and waiting for his answer.

Severus paused a moment before answering, knowing it must have something to do with himself. Finally he allowed himself a small nod. "I shall do my best," he answered as evenly as he could. Hermione accepted his response; she knew it was the closest he would ever be to a simple 'yes' or 'no'.

She took a slow breath, hoping it would suffice for time to get the words out that were very clear in her mind but she knew would not be so clear in speech. "Were you..." she paused, searching for the word. "...Unhappy with what I did today? Stopping Draco from coming up here, I mean." She waited, still unwilling to look up and see what answers might be playing about in his face. She noticed that his muscles had tightened slightly at her questions, noting how they had both become less relaxed with a new conversation topic.

Severus knew he had to choose his words and explanation carefully at risk of getting into an unforgivable quarrel. "You realize that Lucius could have easily killed you instead of simply taking you as bait, don't you," he inquired, immediately wishing he hadn't.

"Do _not_ change the subject, Severus," she immediately countered, starting to fire up, finally looking at him. She did not, however, let go of him, which gave him the slight feeling of being trapped as he was being scolded. "You are angry, aren't you," she asked incredulously, yet still had not raised her voice above a loud whisper. The look in his eyes confirmed it for her. At this, she angrily withdrew herself from him and took a few steps back. "It actually upsets you that I may have very well saved his life?"

"_You_ could have died, Hermione!" He found his voice, realizing that the anger he felt about the events of the day...her foolishness to not allow Draco to help her had not dissipated in the slightest, but yet had simply been cast aside because of the fact that she had watched Draco live something she had not very long ago. "He could have helped you," he nearly raged, but managed to keep his tone quiet.

Hermione only shook her head in disbelieving amazement. "And had I _not_ stopped him, Lucius would have killed him on the spot. And then killed me as well," she said bluntly, trying to stare him down. "We would both be dead."

A long silence between them followed, both sides nearly furious with the other, refusing to back down and admit to another that one may very well be right in their thinking.

Severus wished he could retort with something else, but in a way he knew she was right. In the time that she had been here now, he realized how much of his pride he had packed away when he was around her. Not to mention the walls he had completely lowered because of her...even though that was a completely different story.

He was, for some reason, still needing to be a bit furious with her or at least about the whole situation. In truth, it had been worry that drove him to the anger he was feeling now; the thought that something terrible could have happened to her—it terrified him in all reality.

In that thought, Severus suddenly took a sharp breath, his mark burning, searing more than normal. Voldemort was angry...it didn't take a clever mind like Severus' to know why.

Hermione too, amidst her own anger, noticed it and was immediately more concerned, even though she had no intention of backing down from the argument.

However Severus, without a word, turned and made his way swiftly to the office door to leave as quickly as possible, knowing it would only be even more suicidal to keep him waiting any longer. He didn't answer her either when she suddenly asked what he was doing, where he was going...even though she knew. He noted that she was more frantic as he neared the door to his office, still not turning around.

"Wait!" Hermione nearly pleaded, knowing where he was off to, not wanting him to go. She knew she would never forgive herself if Voldemort decided to get rid of him right then and there because of Lucius and Narcissa and she didn't even have the chance to say she was sorry...and that she loved him.

Severus knew he was going to have to do something to stop her, as she was now almost frantically following him, pleading for him to stay. He, however, lost all thought and feeling the moment he entered the office, just as Hermione had taken hold of his hand to try and get through to him, the faces of five fellow Death Eaters meeting his sight.

AN: Credit goes to the film Red Eye for where Hermione's explaining what happened to her friend. That's basically where the base of the idea came from. "That it was beyond your control"; "No. That it would never happen again." Thanks for reading...and for the reviews! You guys are awesome! :) 


	15. Choices

Hermione stopped dead at the sight as well. Her heart had to have stopped in that moment, her blood turning cold briefly. She dropped his hand, praying they hadn't seen. This was bad, very bad. Now all it would take was for one of these Death Eaters to go and tell Voldemort...they would both be as good as dead.

"Severus," one of them spoke up, sounding a little astonished. "So it's true...Lucius was right?" He looked to the others standing next to him who all wore an expression that was mutinous.

Surprisingly, Severus was able to keep his voice calm and clear. "What, pray tell, was Lucius right about," he asked, sneering at the man's name.

The one who had spoken was the only one who looked scandalized that Lucius' suspicion had been true. He looked like he was very much hoping it wasn't true. But before he could answer, Severus spoke again.

"You mean _this,_" he said roughly, suddenly reaching over and taking hold of Hermione's upper arm very aggressively. She cried out a little; it hurt and it startled her. For a moment she felt frightened but realized this could be what saved them.

Roughly, Severus jerked her closer to him. The pain in her arm where he had hold of it was excruciating; she knew she wouldn't have to fake tears while he was doing this. Feigning what she hoped the Death Eaters would take as defeat, she hung her head slightly, biting her lip to try and offset the pain in her arm.

"Yes," Severus continued, "yes, this must be to what dear old Lucius was referring." No one spoke so he continued. "I'm sure he told you of a theory that I am—"

"—Saving her...in love with her," another Death Eater spat in clear disgust, cutting him off. Severus raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Really now, is that so," he said with mock questioning. "Well I can assure you he is wrong," he continued in a voice of utter repulsion that such a thing could ever occur. "Although," he added in a lighter, more optimistic tone, looking down at Hermione's shaking body, "that's not what she thinks..." he trailed off.

At this Hermione's head came up and she looked at him through her hair, which had fallen over her face. Her eyes probably held all of the hurt in the world in them; he had said it so sincerely, she was afraid for a moment that it was true.

"I have to keep up pretenses, you understand," he continued to the Death Eaters, forcing himself to look away from Hermione's pained face. "Otherwise she'd have never told me anything about Potter's whereabouts you see..."

"I trusted you," Hermione muttered venomously, now glaring at him and shaking her head. "How could you?" Severus ignored her.

"So you know of the boy's location then," the first one asked curiously, seeming to have believed Severus' statement as to the reason Hermione was there.

"That is for the Dark Lord's ears to hear, McNair," Severus answered bluntly. "For his ears only..."

"How exactly can we be so sure that you are truthful about these so-called 'pretenses,'" the skeptical one said out of nowhere. Severus drew himself up to full height and took a step forward.

"Are you questioning me," he snarled. The death eater too rose up more and began to move towards Severus, but McNair put a hand out to stop him.

"No one is questioning you, Severus...you have obviously proved your loyalty time and time again..."

"Then _why_ exactly are you here," Severus said, becoming annoyed. "If not to question my loyalty, that is?"

McNair paused before answering. "Lucius and Narcissa are dead, Severus," he said assertively. Severus pulled a concerned face.

"How?"

"Murdered," another death eater answered, stepping forward.

Severus turned to him. "And how, pray tell, did this _unfortunate_ tiding happen to come to pass?"

There was another silence in the room as each of the five visitors seemed to be contemplating who was going to say it.

"The spell found..._your wand_ to be the source of the curse, Severus," said McNair cautiously.

Severus did not show he was fazed in the slightest, but Hermione felt his pulse speed up slightly on her arm.

"Come to bring me to the Dark Lord then, have you," he sneered. No one answered. Hermione tried to control her own breathing, hoping her nervousness wasn't a dead giveaway that she was thinking the truth.

Time seemed to drag on forever in those moments right then. Severus was doing some deep thinking internally...knowing that his time of keeping his double life secret may very well be nearing the end quickly.

"Is it true then," another Death Eater spoke up, breaking the silence, the condemnation like bitterness in his voice. When Severus neither spoke, nor looked up the rest of them rose a bit, perhaps starting to understand.

He was thinking so hard he barely even heard the accusations and promises of justice. Severus, however, stunned every person in the room when he suddenly pulled Hermione the rest of the distance to him and kissed her with more force and passion than ever before.

It was not for show. Hermione knew this...the way it felt, she knew he had just made up his mind about something and was acting on it in a way that told her he was very, very sure of his decision.

She dared not move as they broke apart, not needing to look over at the Death Eaters to know each and everyone had their jaws dropped. None of them knew what to say as to what they just witnessed. Severus and Hermione regarded each other for a few seconds before someone finally spoke up, seeming outraged.

"And that was _pretenses_, now was it," the skeptical death eater spat, outraged.

Without looking away from Hermione who watched him, seeming unable to move, he shook his head after a moment.

And then, looking up straight into the face of the inquiring Death Eater, he stated in a voice strong and clear: "No."

There was no time to think after that. Severus pulled Hermione around to his other side, nearly throwing her to his right to keep her out of the way of a curse that had just been thrown at him.

She landed with a thud behind one of the large circular pillars as the entire room exploded in spells being cast every which way, five against one.

Severus threw out curse after curse, hitting targets and being hit himself as he raged on, the decision he'd just made very clear to everyone in the room. He fell more than a few times, being grazed and also hit by a curse or jinx, bleeding from many areas now.

Hermione didn't know what to do, which aggravated her. She had of course left her wand in the other room so she was in real trouble if Severus didn't prevail. Looking around her, she noticed she was pretty close to the fireplace and could floo to McGonagall for help. It would be risky, she knew that, but Severus couldn't hold them all off alone, even though the count was now down to three.

Taking the risk, Hermione threw herself at the hearth, somehow managing to grab floo powder as she got in, saying her destination as clearly as possible. No one seemed to notice what she'd done which she was grateful for.

Professor McGonagall jumped with a start from where she sat at her desk when Hermione flew out of her fireplace. It was dark in the office; Hermione had a feeling she'd just been doing some heavy thinking.

"Death Eaters," she panted frantically, pushing herself off of the floor, "upstairs...need—help..."

McGonagall wasted no time to rush and help Hermione up before moving back over to the fireplace with haste, but Hermione stopped her.

"No, we can't go that way," she said, going towards the door. "One of them might have seen me...we won't know if they'll be waiting for me to come back."

McGonagall only hesitated a moment before she understood that 'one of them' was a Death Eater and that the young witch was right. "We'll take the stairs," she agreed and the two of them ran out of the office and back to where Hermione had come from.

It was late; therefore the castle was deserted, making things a lot easier for the two witches as they ran along the corridors. Hermione needed to get back; she had to get there in time...

Finally, they ascended the long spiral staircase to the headmaster's office where the sounds of the duel were still echoing off the stone walls, giving Hermione the slightest bit of hope that all was not quite lost yet.

When she reached the top first, Hermione tried to open the door, but to her utter dismay it wouldn't budge. Frantically, she started to wrench at the handle, completely forgetting McGonagall was behind her with a wand.

"Miss Granger," McGonagall said in a panicked, yet slightly obvious voice, one that told her to stop. She laid a hand on Hermione's lower arm briefly to calm her. Hermione took a steadying breath, muttering a quiet apology and shaking her head.

McGonagall moved to unlock the door herself, but no sooner did she step forward, the door itself exploded, shattering all over the two of them.

Standing in the doorway in complete shock, Hermione's heart sped up and she began to panic again as nothing could be seen in the dust-clouded room ahead of her. The worst things were going through her mind. Any moment now, she knew it, the Death Eaters that survived would come after them, proclaiming their victory...their sick, twisted victory...and she didn't know what she would do then.

Not a sound issued from the office. Hermione and Professor McGonagall waited with bated breath as the dust cleared. Cautiously, when nothing seemed to be happening, Hermione took a few steps into the doorframe and strained her eyes to see something, anything.

She could have been imagining it, but she thought that through the clearing dust she saw a figure—a lone figure standing there...or rather, hunched over. As the room cleared even more, she saw that it was indeed a person and to her immense relief, not a Death Eater.

Severus looked over in her direction, seeing her as the dust nearly completely cleared out of the office where he stood, bleeding from head to toe, swearing that something had to be broken, but at least he was alive.

The last spell he'd cast had been what finished the last three Death Eaters off. Briefly thinking back, he didn't even know if what he cast was a real spell, but a combination of sorts that happened when his emotions, which were tied with his magic, got so high it caused a mass eruption of which they were staring at the aftermath of now.

Completely stunned that he was even still standing, he managed to make eye contact with Hermione, who was standing near the doorway, looking relieved yet seeming extremely frightened all at the same time. It was the last upright vision he saw as at that moment, he found himself losing consciousness and fell in a heap on the ground.

He barely opened his eyes when he felt Hermione kneel next to him, sensing how she was trying not to cry. She was frantically speaking to someone. McGonagall? Yes, sounded like it. They were saying something about the hospital wing. He wanted to protest but found no words were coming out. And then the world slipped from his vision once again.

"Floo yourself to the hospital wing, Miss Granger," McGonagall said. "Tell Madam Pomfrey what has happened and that I will be there shortly with him."

When Hermione began to protest, saying she wanted to stay with him, McGonagall only cut her off. "—You mustn't be seen...go by floo, Hermione. I will get him there safely."

Reluctantly, Hermione obeyed. When she arrived in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey nearly dropped the vile she was carrying, clearly not having been expecting someone to shoot out of her fireplace.

"Miss Granger!" She exclaimed, catching her breath and hurrying over to help Hermione up. "Where on earth did you come from? What's happened? Is Mr. Potter with you?"

These questions went in one of her ears and straight out the other, remembering how the mediwitch had no idea that she had in fact been in the castle for some time now and probably thought she was coming from somewhere else...and with Harry.

Hermione shook her head as she got up, trying as hard as she could to control her emotions while she explained what had just happened and that McGonagall was on her way here with Severus right now.

Madam Pomfrey took a moment or so to let that all sink in, and another to hide the near disgust that passed over her face as Severus' name was mentioned as to the one she'd have to be healing. Hermione let it go; Madam Pomfrey didn't know everything...she may never know everything either, but she would have to understand that Severus was good, there was no denying that anymore...no one would be able question it now.

The lit infirmary did no justice to Severus' injuries as McGonagall levitated him in. Madam Pomfrey herself gasped at what she saw and bustled over to the furthest bed down the wall, twitching the cream-colored curtain open so McGonagall could lay him down, immediately pouring a progressive healing potion down his throat.

Hermione was practically rooted to where she stood as they passed. She didn't look away though, and kept her head up, just trying to breathe. She was in a daze and didn't realize McGonagall was saying her name until she came right up in front of her.

"Hermione—" she said, putting a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump out of her thoughts. "Will you sit and let Madam Pomfrey fix you up? I'll be back shortly," she announced looking first over at Madam Pomfrey then back to Hermione before leaving with a nod.

It was just then that Hermione noticed she was bleeding from her temple. Robotically, she backed up and sat on a chair as Madam Pomfrey started to pour over her, applying a salve which Hermione felt working immediately and the pain started to retreat.

Madam Pomfrey finished on her as McGonagall returned to the hospital wing, parts of the hair under her hat looking wind-blown, suggesting she'd just been outside. As the two older witches were discussing what McGonagall had been doing and Madam Pomfrey prepared a tray to fix Severus up, Hermione quietly and slowly walked over to his bedside.

Her breath catching at the sight of him, she choked back a tear and ran her hand gently over his right arm, which had survived with only a few scrapes. Following it all the way up to his elbow and upon getting there, she sat down in the chair next to the bed. She heard McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey's voices lower slightly, knowing McGonagall was probably trying to explain some of what had been going on since Hermione's arrival.

Soon though, the two of them appeared at the bedside as well and Madam Pomfrey started to work. Hermione was silent for a long while as she watched. Finally she looked up at McGonagall with slight curiosity.

"Where did you go," she asked quietly, surprised at herself for asking such a question of her professor but McGonagall didn't seem offended, only nodded a few times before answering.

"He came-to slightly," she said, gesturing towards Severus. "In the corridor," she added. "He told me to go place the wards back up...to protect the school." Hermione nodded, happy to hear he'd regained some consciousness for a time.

"Well," sighed Madam Pomfrey after McGonagall explained about the wards, "certainly is good to know Hogwarts isn't under evil's control anymore."

Hermione glanced up at her briefly before looking back down to Severus with a very tender expression and a slight smile.

"No..." she said quietly, reaching up and pushing some of his hair back, still smiling a little. "It never _was _under evil's control." Madam Pomfrey stopped what she was doing briefly and looked at Hermione who didn't look up, then looked to McGonagall who nodded, giving Poppy a small smile of her own, thinking of just how right Hermione was.

Not too much longer after that and Madam Pomfrey announced she was finished. "He's not as good as new, but he'll live," she said, shaking her head. "He'll be needing plenty of rest," she added, and then looking to Hermione, said, "Will you make sure he does that?" Hermione nodded with a sigh, just happy he was going to be ok.

"Am I to assume that you would wish to be here tonight, Miss Granger," McGonagall asked as she rose to leave. Hermione nodded, not looking away from Severus who finally looked peaceful as he slept for once, mostly due to the potion they'd given him to ensure he didn't wake up. "I suppose I shall inform Mr. Malfoy of everyone's location," she added.

Hermione's stomach took a plunge as she heard this. She hadn't even thought about Draco since the Death Eaters showed up, and quite frankly was astounded he hadn't heard the commotion from the office.

But McGonagall didn't know what had just happened to him.

"Professor," she called after McGonagall who was heading towards the door. "There's something you need to know..."

McGonagall normally disclosed her emotions very well, but she looked absolutely horrified as Hermione recalled the events of earlier during the day.

"That's why they showed up," she said thoughtfully in regards to the Death Eaters, realizing it was because of the Malfoy's deaths. Hermione nodded sadly. "Don't worry, Miss Granger," McGonagall assured her. "I will take care of it."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, trying to smile as she turned away to go back to Severus.

Hermione reached his bedside, looking down on him with a sigh as she sat back down in the chair. For a long time, she merely pushed stray strands of hair that seemed to always fall near his eyes out of the way. It was almost calming, maybe more for her than for him.

Soon she found she couldn't keep her head up any longer, finally resting it near his shoulder, laying her arm across his torso, not quite holding him, but just to ensure he was still there with her, safe...and alive.


	16. Aftermath

**AN: **Hey all...sorry for the wait. This chapter's been tricky for me to edit because I needed to take a piece of it out and change some of it up a little. Finals week is coming up soon also, so if you're waiting for an update they're coming...just not as quickly as I'd like. Thanks in advance for reviewing! ;

Several hours passed before Severus woke up. He felt groggy and his head pounded as though someone was continually hitting him. His eyes flickered open partially and he took in the sight of the hospital wing, or at least what he could see of it from where he was, not being able to remember the last time he'd needed to come here for someone's help.

Opening his eyes more, he realized Hermione's arm across his middle and her head resting in on his shoulder. For a long time, he watched her arm rise and fall with his breaths. How strange it felt to be lying here when hours ago he nearly lost his life.

It then occurred to him that he had just renounced the dark ways in a matter of minutes...he recalled instructing Minerva to replace the wards on the school that had been taken down after the take-over at the start of the previous term. Now that he had chosen his side, the school would no longer be safe lest they put it back under the protection of good magic. Relieved to have that at least, he briefly thought about needing to research a way to actually remove his dark mark from his arm. He knew the Dark Lord would be furious at this.

As if he wasn't furious enough already...

The thought also graced his mind of how extremely lucky he was to be here, thinking, at this very moment. He almost was in disbelief that he had managed to take on five Death Eaters and come out standing.

This, however, didn't matter now as it was over...and he had more important things to worry about. With these thoughts, Severus slipped back out of consciousness, knowing everything would be different in the days to come.

Hermione awoke suddenly sometime near dawn. Momentarily, she forgot where she was but it all came flooding back to her mere seconds later. She lay her head back down gently as she had moved it a fraction to look around upon waking. Smiling gently at the sleeping man's quite serene face, she sighed inaudibly and started to barely trace around the buttons on his shirt with her index finger.

For a while she watched her hand trace a methodical pattern on the sleek, black buttons, putting her into a sort of trace, so much in fact, she didn't realize that Severus was watching too.

He had opened his eyes when he felt her move a few minutes ago but didn't feel the need to disturb the very entrancing pattern she was tracing on his chest and stomach. His attention was diverted, however, by disturbingly large color on her arm that was lying near his side. Forcing himself to become more conscious, he lifted his head with only a little difficulty to closer examine it.

"Was this my doing," he said quietly with concern, reaching up and very carefully touching it as if it were fragile glass.

Surprisingly, Hermione wasn't startled by his sudden use of speech, nor was she concerned by the bruises that he had unfortunately "needed" to give her. She simply repositioned her head to look at it as well, watching as he barely ran his hand over her arm.

"I'm not angry, if that's your question," she said, smiling, hoping he would have the sense to not beat himself up over it; the deed had been necessary, unavoidable.

"Well I should certainly hope not," Severus said in more of his usual, superior voice. "It _was_ partially what saved us, you know..."

Hermione only rolled her eyes, trying to hide her small smile, but as always, it wasn't working. Besides, she knew Severus would be able to feel it anyways, even if she used all of her energy to hide it.

"I'm sure that was your barely acceptable excuse for an apology," she said, trying to mimic him. She looked up, laughing a little at the deep scowl that had appeared on his face.

"Oh Severus," she said in a slightly exasperated tone, "you know I would never expect you to _apologize_ for saving my life." She smiled when he finally moved his head sideways to look at her, calculating again.

"Now I know you'll hate me for asking," she said, deciding to ruin a potentially tender moment, "but how are you feeling?"

Severus looked away, always aggravated with the fact that people actually seemed to find the need to pour over him so much...although he knew answering Hermione's questions would be nothing compared to what he was sure Madam Pomfrey was going to do when she came to check and found him awake.

With a sigh, he thought it best to just answer, not admitting that he was in no mood or state of mind to get into any arguments at the moment.

"I've been better," he grunted, trying to be quiet to postpone Poppy's arrival with the potions and bandages and Merlin only knew what else.

"Obviously..."

"Would you care for me to go into detail, Hermione," he asked sarcastically at her own sardonic tones, raising his eyebrows as she frowned, daring him to push it further.

Leaving it alone and nodding once, mostly to himself, he looked back at the ceiling, he himself trying to hide the grin this time, as she rose out of her chair, shaking her head and going to the edge of the curtain to leave and find Madam Pomfrey.

"Indeed," he muttered, perhaps thinking it was quiet enough so she would not hear.

He allowed the shadow of a grin as she paused momentarily at the curtain, but didn't turn around and then left, shaking her head.

"Ah, good morning Miss Granger," McGonagall said brightly, walking into the hospital wing.

"Hello, Professor," she managed to get out through her extreme exhaustion, even adding a small smile.

"How is he," McGonagall inquired, glancing up at the curtain that surrounded Severus' bed, her smile somewhat vanishing. "Did he sleep through the night?" Hermione sighed a little and nodded, glancing back at the beige curtain as well.

"He's ornery," she said in a slightly annoyed tone, rolling her eyes a little.

"I can hear you, you know," came Severus' ill-tempered voice from behind the curtain where he was no doubt hanging on their every word, knowing that they were, of course, talking about him.

The two witches smirked at each other, Hermione thinking how much he sounded like a first year at the moment. Trying not to laugh, she pulled a more serious face when McGonagall cleared her throat to compose herself.

"Poppy should be up momentarily," she said more seriously. Hermione nodded and looked at the floor, arms crossed, still barely nodding to herself, the notion that he had almost just died finally hitting her, the feeling that he was alive and almost well being the only thing keeping her from dropping to the floor and crying. McGonagall saw the change and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You should eat something," she said, not really as a suggestion but as a gentle verbal push out of the infirmary. Without looking up, Hermione nodded to acknowledge McGonagall was right. She knew that she shouldn't even try and argue, even though she would obviously much rather just stay.

Hermione walked slowly over to the fireplace where she tiredly spoke her destination and flew off towards the kitchens.

For once, which surprised her a little, she was able to remain on her feet upon entering the hearth. She dusted the ashes off with a sigh and went over to wear the house elves had now found it accustom to leave plates of food for her and Draco. She had wondered how they even knew when it had first started appearing every day, but then she realized that she had a very good friend who frequently used the kitchens as his place to think lately.

Heavily, Hermione sat down at the bench off against the back wall and started to pick away at the food on the plate in front of her. Soon finding she had far too much on her mind to eat in peace, she sighed and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes for a few moments before forcing herself to get up and go back to the hospital wing.

It crossed her mind that it may have not been the smartest idea to floo back into the infirmary, seeing as she had no idea who might be in there at the moment. Nevertheless, by the time she called out her destination it was obviously too late.

Luckily, the hospital wing was still devoid of students or any other patients when she arrived, once again landing on her feet. She smiled a little in recognition of the fact that it must be because of all the floo traveling she'd been doing lately.

Another grin was brought to her face as the sounds of a very unhappy patient coming from behind the curtain at the far end of the ward, telling her Madam Pomfrey was indeed there and probably doctoring Severus against his will...or at least attempting to.

"Would it kill you to just _take_ the potion, Severus," Hermione heard Madam Pomfrey sigh exasperatedly as she approached the curtain. When she came to the other side, she had a mind to keep herself from laughing; Severus was sitting up, arms crossed stubbornly across his chest, glaring at a little vile Madam Pomfrey held in her hand.

Hermione said nothing, only raised her eyebrows in a half amused, half questioning fashion, trying very hard to not let her smile get too big.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," sighed Madam Pomfrey when Severus refused yet again to take the potion. "I give up!" She exclaimed, suddenly striding to the other side of the bed and thrusting the vile unexpectantly into Hermione's hands before storming away.

This didn't seem to bother Severus one bit, who himself looked simply satisfied that he had managed to get her away from him. Hermione only shook her head disapprovingly, resting a hand on her hip and waiting as if she were expecting him to answer a question.

"Don't look at me like that, Hermione—" Severus tried to begin warningly, but she cut him off.

"Could you be more stubborn, Severus," she said, satisfied with how he opened and closed his mouth several times before seeming like he had nothing to add to that and gave up.

Severus cleared his throat and looked away from her, staring straight ahead of himself out the window. Hermione just sighed and sat down next to him on the edge of the bed. She fiddled with the vile in her hands for a few minutes when neither of them spoke, tapping on the glass annoyingly with her fingernails, trying to think of something to say but finding nothing.

"What is it," she finally asked of the potion she was holding. "It must be something _horrible_ for you to make such a fuss over taking it..."

He knew she was trying to bait him into just taking the damn thing, but he wouldn't do it. He would not be weak; he refused to be weak.

"It's nothing," he said dryly, hoping she'd drop it, but he of course knew better than to wish for such foolish things.

"Nothing...really," Hermione said sarcastically. "Well then you shouldn't mind taking it then, should you?" She turned slightly to face him and slightly shook the vile in front of him, offering it to him with a mock-hopeful expression.

She was only returned a very grumpy, obvious stare, first at her, then the bottle, then back to her.

"Oh honestly, Severus...can it really be that bad?"

"Yes."

"You're acting like a child."

"Yes, I believe we've covered this before..."

"Impossible," she said flatly, shaking her head more.

She sighed again while placing her free hand lightly on his, starting to lightly play with it, and thinking to herself. At the other end of the ward, voices could be heard, seeming to be approaching. "Yes, yes, I'll be with you in a moment..."

It was Madam Pomfrey. As her footsteps seemed to move closer towards the curtain, Severus nearly unconsciously moved his hand away from Hermione's so they were no longer touching.

Hermione looked at him questioningly with a furrowed brow. Severus was looking straight ahead of him, but met Hermione's gaze when he felt her watching him. She raised an eyebrow, then glanced towards the curtain before looking back to Severus in understanding.

"You can't bear the idea that someone might see you being intimate, can you," she questioned knowingly, her face breaking into a slight grin at his even more pronounced scowl.

"Does this bother you," he grumbled, barely moving his mouth in hope that if Poppy was close, she would not hear.

"Kiss me," she whispered suddenly, sitting up a little and looking him straight in the eye. When he faltered, mostly in his expression, she continued with a small grin, leaning down again his face near his cheek. When she spoke again it was quiet, and she was ever so careful to expel her breath next to his ear, her voice calmly shuddering. "I dare you...even though they could come in here at any second. Kiss me just once."

He hadn't the slightest clue what to say to her in that instant. Not only had he not been expecting her to say anything like that, he certainly was trapped now, and he had a decision to make. In the back of his mind, he could hear Poppy moving closer. He stared at her, absolutely at a loss—something that didn't usually happen to him; faltering like this was not his persona, it did not fit.

Hermione simply waited, somewhat enjoying the way Severus seemed to be struggling internally. Her grin became more pronounced and satisfied as she heard footsteps come right up next to them, and he still had not yet moved. She pushed herself to sit up just as Madam Pomfrey pushed back the curtain.

A strange look passed over Madam Pomfrey's face as she came in but she quickly hid it. Hermione let it go though; she knew it would take some getting used to for people. She assumed McGonagall had explained what was going on to Madam Pomfrey and Hermione was fine with that, but she had to admit to herself, it was a bit awkward...of course, not as awkward as it probably was for Severus.

She looked down at his expression as he tried to recompose his face to look like his sultry self. He glared up at her slightly as he caught the small grin that was playing about her face while Madam Pomfrey bustled about around his rigid body, trying to make sure everything was ok with his condition.

"Everything seems to be in order," she mumbled, bustling to the other side of the bed and transferring some potion into several smaller bottles. She caught Hermione's eye and motioned to outside of the curtain. Hermione nodded and rose from where she was still sitting and followed, leaving Severus with a pronounced glare on his face, arms crossed, clearly knowing they were about to discuss him and his "home care".

"Make sure he takes these," Madam Pomfrey instructed quietly, both of them inadvertently keeping an eye out for the door, just in case someone was to walk in. Hermione nodded and carefully placed the vials into her pockets.

"He shouldn't be up and about either," she continued, looking irritated as though she knew no force, magical or non, in the world could keep a man like Severus Snape from being up and about. Although on the other hand, Madam Pomfrey didn't know the power Hermione held over him...of course, neither did Hermione.

McGonagall showed up some time after Madam Pomfrey left again, instructing Hermione she should take Severus back to his quarters by floo as not to attract any unneeded attention.

"I'll be by to...check on things," she said, glancing to Severus and pulling a more terse face as he raised his eyebrows at her slightly for suggesting he needed to be 'checked up on'.

Although she wasn't sure how she managed to pull it off, Hermione got them both safely back into the Headmaster's quarters through the fireplace. Not to mention she landed them both on their feet...she was soon to be a pro at this.

Madam Pomfrey had supplied Severus with a walking stick, which he first refused, but then caved when he tried to stand and was unable to hide the fact that his legs were nearly useless without one.

Hermione walked him carefully over to the armchair on the other side of the room and helped him ease into it. Severus was grateful no one else was in the room to see him so weak, not even Draco.

He watched Hermione as she started to walk across the room.

"You're angry," he stated, waiting as she hesitated where she stood, observing her, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Tell me."

"Why would I be angry," she sighed, turning around to see him watching her, that calculating look back on his face again.

"The hospital wing..." he offered, waving his hand slightly, referencing to her persuasive techniques from earlier and the fact that he had not found the courage to do what she asked of him.

"I'm not--" she started, but was interrupted by the concealed door opening as Draco appeared from his room. The subject was dropped there, however Severus had every intention of getting some answer out of her when they were truly alone.

Draco glanced from Severus to Hermione, seeming unsure of what to say. "McGonagall told me some Death Eaters showed up," he finally settled with, trying to sound more concerned through the blanket of obvious depression that was engulfing him at the moment. This obviously had not been the best time for a massacre of Death Eaters. He then paused, thinking hard as he stared at the floor for a few moments. Hermione and Severus watched him, knowing he was trying to say something—or at least piece together something to say. As he began to try and explain, stuttering and spitting at his words slightly, Severus held up a quiet hand to stop him.

"There will be no apologies," he said somberly. "From anyone," he added, with somewhat of a sideways glance at Hermione. "What's done is done."

Draco's expression relaxed slightly and Hermione barely nodded in a silent agreement. She was feeling too many things at once to decipher, but one she knew she was for sure not feeling was regret. She did not regret the death of Lucius Malfoy, although Narcissa's was tragic and unnecessary. There was no need to regret what Severus had done the night before—she was proud, if anything, of what he'd been able to do. She imagined he had more or less had some kind of 'friendship' with one or more of those Death Eaters and knew what a sacrifice he'd made in killing them, not just to his personal self, but in doing this he had completely destroyed an image of trust he had spent years building up to Voldemort—something that was now completely useless to gain information from since he was surely wanted dead at this moment and of course no longer a part of the inner circle.

With several decisive nods, Draco finally decided his time to be best served back in the solitary confinement of his room and commenced to retreat there. Hermione followed him with her eyes, contemplating going to talk with him. She hadn't gotten the chance to during the previous evening.

Severus, although himself was thinking he needed to spend more time with Draco to talk with him about what had happened, was glad for the renewed privacy to clear up these discrepancies with Hermione.

This hope was slightly dashed, however, when Hermione stood still for a few moments time before walking in the direction of the door that had just quietly closed shut back into the floor.

"And _where_ exactly are you going," he asked silkily, annoyed she wouldn't stay put long enough to get some answers out of her. He pretended to examine his fingernails on one hand as he awaited her answer.

"He needs someone to talk to," she answered, devoid of the obvious tones that he knew would normally be there were this not as serious as it actually was.

"And you think that person is you, do you?"

Hermione stopped in front of the invisible door, turning to face Severus slowly upon hearing what he'd just said. "Yes," she stated assertively, placing a hand on her hip. He raised his brow at her tone of voice out of habit. He instantly regretted it as her expression soured.

"Don't you _dare_ look give me that look as though I am a student in your classroom," she snapped, pointing a finger at him and glaring. "This is _not_ the classroom, and yes, Severus, I am going to talk with Draco because I already told you...this is not a time for him to be alone. He needs—"

"What? A friend," Severus nearly mocked of her, but kept his sardonic tone down as to not upset her further.

"Someone to trust," Hermione simply stated after a momentary pause at the shock that he was even questioning this after she had already explained it to him last night. "And don't you dare mock me—you know why I feel this way."

Severus made an ill attempt to show a sign of defense, which in turn only made Hermione rise more. "And you think you'd be better suited to talk to him, do you now? Is that it," she seethed as she shook her head, going once more to open the door to Draco's quarters.

A pause.

"Yes." His voice was more subdued than before.

"Oh really," Hermione said straightening up again, not able to resist sparing with him over this. "And how exactly do you fit better for this job than me?"

There was no pause this time.

"My mother died at the hands of my father," he said flatly without missing a beat in the argument in a quieted voice, hinting at cruel remembrance, shooting her a look straight in the eyes.

Hermione's face fell, cursing herself internally for not even realizing this was something Draco and Severus now had in common. "Severus, I didn't—I'm sorry..."

"No," he said dryly. "The last thing I want from you is sympathy."

Hermione's defenses instantly went back up as he said this. "Very well," she retorted with a voice cold as stone. "You don't have it then." And with that she turned and wrenched the door open and went inside, practically slamming it behind her.

When the door above her head was closed, Hermione stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She closed her eyes for a moment or two and took a deep, calming breath before taking the rest of the stairs down into the room.

She was first taken by surprise at the largeness of the room in front of her eyes. At first, she found herself staring and being actually quite amazed at what had been under her feet this whole time.

There was a bed on the far side of the room, which hadn't been made. A door also sat next to that which she assumed was a small bathroom. She smiled slightly at the thought that she had been totally off with the idea of where Dumbledore's second secret had been. This had to be it...unless, of course, this was something Severus had created. With that thought, her smile faded slightly, her mind being brought back to the unfortunate reality that he was still upstairs and she was still furious with him.

"What are you doing down here," came Draco's voice from behind her. She turned around as he emerged from a dark shadow next to the staircase. He looked so sullen, so completely down and not himself at all which frightened her a little. This whole thing had caused him to be thrown out of one reality and into another; one that was frightening for anyone.

"I wanted to see how you were," she said cautiously, choosing her words very carefully as not to upset him any further.

"Why," he asked, not sourly, but with hardly any emotion at all. He was in such a depressed state, there was really no emotion left to decipher except that of sadness and regret.

"Because," she said quietly, daringly approaching him, placing a hand on his shoulder when she reached him. "I know how you feel..." Draco looked up at this. "...And now is not the time to be alone," she finished sincerely, carefully watching the expression he held on his face, and more importantly in his eyes.

He seemed to study her for a long time, contemplating. "I don't want to talk about what happened at the manor anymore," he finally said, a twinge of hate and remorse in his voice. Hermione shook her head.

"You shouldn't have to," she agreed quietly. "Just talk," she said after a few moments of silence. Draco looked up at her again.

"Talk..." he trailed off questioningly.

"Yes, talk." Hermione smiled a little, waiting for his response, hoping it would be positive. Draco seemed to be thinking again, trying to decide whether she was trying to trick him or something; he was probably wondering why in the world she would have the desire to come down for a chat...

Something changed in his eyes though after a few minutes. It was something Hermione had certainly never seen from him before...it was acceptance. He nodded a few times, having made up his mind that this would be a good thing.

It was nice—the two former bitter rivals talked for hours about everything: the past and what spun the hate they all had created for each other. Draco tried to explain it was his family...Hermione knew that already and she understood. She could forgive...they were young, and stupid then. "Funny how circumstances change...how feelings change," she said with a small smile and a nod.

"I was incredibly big-headed," Draco admitted, shaking his head as he remembered the past.

"Brought you back down to earth when I punched you that time though, didn't it?" Hermione teased with a smile, playfully giving him a jab with her elbow.

Draco breathed a chuckle. "I was so embarrassed, you have no idea," he admitted. "You can't even imagine...I had been bested by a Gryffindor—a _girl Gryffindor_ at that!

But I deserved it, I suppose," he said, nodding to himself. Hermione shrugged. "It's funny what we'll do for acceptance in a group of friends," she said. "Or to remain the leader..."

Draco nodded in silent agreement, still obviously recalling the past quite vividly through his mind.

But Hermione could remember it very well too.

And now with it clearly behind them, the future was starting to look brighter.


	17. Truth

Several hours passed before night fell and Hermione found the nerve to climb the stairs and find Severus. She found her stomach to be in a complete knot, her mind racing with every thought possible.

_Just breathe_, she kept telling herself. _Everything will be just fine._ _You love him._ A small smile found its way to her face at that thought; it was something she was so sure of, even at this point where earlier she had wanted to tear into him verbally with all her might.

She came to the doorway of the bedroom and stopped, glancing in almost cautiously. It was dark in there with the exception of the beam of moonlight that was pouring in, spilling onto the carpet, ending at the edge of the bed. Severus was standing at the window, seeming to be gazing out. He didn't move an inch when she came to the doorway.

Hermione stood silent for a few more moments, trying to come up with something to say to him. She had actually hoped he'd been sleeping; he was, after all, less intimidating lying down in bed.

"You should be lying down," she finally said in a very quiet voice, swallowing and shaking her head to herself afterwards, thinking how that was probably not the right path to choose in terms of conversation starters.

She was right.

"Are you trying to tell me what to do," Severus asked in a quiet, far off voice, only with a hint of annoyance. But he continued: "Of course, I certainly don't seem to have much influence on your decision making, so—"

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly with a sigh, cutting him off and taking a few more cautionary steps into the room. Still, he did not turn around, but continued to stare out the moonstruck window. It felt good though to get that off of her chest, she noted briefly. It's all she had really wanted to say—she felt like she had acted too strongly perhaps...not that he hadn't, but at least part of that was said and done.

"And do you not think that I have some apologizing to do," he said, startling her slightly. She had not been expecting that to come out of his mouth at all, in fact she had climbed the stairs knowing that she was in for criticism of some kind.

"What is it you want me to say," she finally answered weakly, shaking her head at the dark form of his back, unsure of what exactly it was he wanted from her. "Of course I think you should apologize." She waved her hand next to her as if to illustrate that was beside the point. "But who am I to force you?"

Hermione watched Severus take a deep breath. "You want me to apologize for my concern, Hermione?" He asked a bit contemptuously, but it was so undertone Hermione barely caught it at all.

There was a long silence. Hermione had almost subconsciously walked over closer to him, unsure of what there was to say next. She had it in good mind to just leave it be, just go and they could both sleep on it, but she knew Severus would never sleep if they didn't talk about it now...and neither would she.

"No," she finally breathed. "No, I don't want you to apologize for your concern." Another long silence followed. Hermione watched the slow, controlled movements of his back as he breathed. "He would have taken me anyways," she finally said, once again being the one to break the deafening silence between them. "You know that...he would have killed Draco..." she paused, needing to take a somewhat steadying breath. "And I would have no longer been needed as bait." And then she waited; still watching his back, thinking how calculated his breathing seemed to be; _in and out, in and out,_ as if it was what was keeping him from letting loose all emotion at once.

After what seemed like forever, she noticed his head slightly rise. "I know," he said, his voice barely audible. Hermione had moved closer now, so that she was right at his side, but only able to see a part of his face, a part that looked quite troubled indeed.

She placed an almost-timid hand gently on his forearm. She watched his eyes shift slightly to look and then go back to the windowsill. When she moved her hand, sliding it up past his elbow, he finally turned and in nearly one fluid moment pulled her into an embrace, leaning himself up against the windowsill.

Caught slightly off-guard, Hermione stared up at him, eyes now locked, searching and questioning without much hope of answers, this she knew for certain, but she watched as his eyes bore into hers; even in the darkness of the night it was apparent he too was searching for something. He held on to her with a confidence just to know she was there, to feel at least the slightest bit secure even in such an insecure moment when neither one of them knew whether to be angry with the other or not; both of them knowing this moment could very well not be happening right now had things gone a bit differently over the last two days.

As if by gravity, the two of them moved closer to each other, slowly but almost determined. Hermione only touched his lips at first, but the moment she did, Severus closed the gap himself, casting aside the sudden pain that shot through him from his injuries. He didn't care though; he would feel the pain one hundred times over just to be able to hold her like that for a few moments, however short they may be.

Hermione broke away when he suddenly drew in a sharp breath, unable to ignore shooting pain that had erupted near his ribcage that she had managed to apply pressure to unknowingly. She gasped quietly and immediately wore a look of concern, which Severus resented instantly. He rolled his eyes as she drew back from him slightly and dug in her pocket, extracting a small vial that was undoubtedly filled with pain potion; a pain potion he most certainly was not going to take.

"Here," she said quietly, looking up at him with nearly pleading eyes, hoping for him to just take it for once. "Please take it."

Severus merely stared at her, angry with himself for showing his pain. _She'll never give it up now...good job. _

Finally, he grabbed it and downed the potion in a matter of seconds. Raising his eyebrows questioningly, he held up the empty vial as if to ask if it was satisfactory; a 'are you happy _now_' sort of look that Hermione returned as presumptuously as possible...but it was a failure, as always.

"You don't always have to be so brave," she whispered, studying him evenly, her expression becoming all the more serious in a matter of a few seconds. It always seemed that Severus had a habit of refusing help being given to him at all costs; even in his darkest, most painful moments she somehow knew he never did nor ever would seek out help from anyone unless forced. This, it seemed, was Hermione's new job.

"And would you rather find me a coward?" He grimaced at his own words. She did not hesitate in shaking her head, slowly, sadly.

"You are no coward, Severus," she stated. "The complete opposite, in fact...possibly the bravest man I've known." It was all true, and she knew he would undoubtedly sense that. It was in times like these where she would willingly, knowingly pour out her heart, soul and mind in their entirety so that he could know everything.

Without a word, Severus quietly and gently pulled her back towards him. His hands trailed down her arms, resting on her hips momentarily before taking them in his grasp and moving her, closing the gap so that they were touching. Hermione gazed up into what she could see of his eyes, barely breathing, at a loss for words as she found herself locked there with no hope of looking away.

One of his hands came up to brush her cheek with such tenderness it stole a beat of her heart away in an instant. Hermione closed her eyes and sighed silently, leaning her head into his hand. They seemed to stay that way for an infinite amount of minutes, actions to make silent apologies on both ends. When she finally opened her eyes again, she noticed Severus was studying her face the same way she had just studied his only moments ago. She gave a somewhat of a questioning look, waiting.

Severus offered no explanations, only placed the hand that had been on her face to the back of her head as tenderly as humanly possible and leaning closer, placing a single kiss on the top of her forehead, just at the hairline. At this, Hermione slid both of her hands carefully around his middle and leaned into him, finding comfort there as they simply held each other.

"I'm truly sorry," she whispered, barely audible at all, only wanting him to know her remorse of the situation she had placed them all in, even if part of her knew it had been right in her actions. She waited, listening to him breathing, as if that would give away his response.

Severus didn't need much time to contemplate, but he found himself swallowing once before answering, an attempt to remedy his throat which had nearly gone dry at the sound of her voice. "You can understand why I was upset, Hermione," he murmured, his chin resting on the top of her head. She rested her head sideways on his shoulder and nodded, casually noticing how she was playing with a lose piece of fabric on the back of his shirt.

"You must know then," he continued quietly, "that the moment I learned what had happened to you, it was as if the floor had simply disappeared momentarily." He shifted so he was no longer resting his chin. Hermione still clung to him, listening. "I felt true terror, Hermione; true terror of losing you when I had only just found you such a short time ago. I don't believe I would know what to do if you were not in my life in some way. I love you, and nothing will ever change that...know that."

Hermione was nearly speechless. In some way she couldn't believe the words she'd just heard were coming out of this man's mouth. Then again, all she had to do was look back on the last month and it was all so very clear to her. She knew in that moment that no matter what happened, she felt the same exact way; she could never imagine a time without Severus now, not being with him. It was with this thought that she held on to him in the semi-darkness of the room, no words to suffice, only feelings between two people who simply wanted to hold on to each other in that very moment.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hermione wandered downstairs the next morning to find Severus and make sure he wasn't doing anything...well, stupid. The muggle jukebox was running again, quietly and almost distant-seeming in the living quarters. The door to the office was standing open, the sounds of rustling papers floating out into the living room. Hermione came and stood at the doorway, taking in the carnage of the office—the damage that had been caused by the duel and the spell that killed the rest of the Death Eaters. Inwardly she drew shocked breath as she glanced around.

Glass and shredded paper littered the floor everywhere she looked, and pieces of wood-small and large-were strewn across the entire room. She looked over to her left at the desk, which was destroyed completely. Only the chair seemed to be intact. Severus was sitting in it, ruffling through papers that were actually still in one piece contrary to the confetti, which was the rest of the paper in the room. With a frustrated grunt, Severus tossed the papers to the floor and leaned back in the chair, rubbing his temples.

"How long have you been down here," Hermione asked abruptly, but quietly, not wishing to startle him. She didn't recall him leaving her last night.

Severus barely moved his shoulders in a shrug, now rubbing his eyes to ease the hindrance of what had happened to the office.

"Have you eaten?"

"Do you wish to mother me?" Had he not been so worn, it would have been said with more malice.

Hermione ignored the stab, which she knew was out of frustration and tiredness than anything else. "I'll go fetch us some breakfast—" she started but was cut off.

"The House Elves brought some up already," he said, motioning slightly to small wooden table that looked to have been brought in from elsewhere in the castle as it was actually intact and looking quite out of place in the ruined office.

Hermione nodded, a silent 'ah' sitting on her mouth as she turned back to face him. Somewhat unsure of what to say to him, she settled on trying to make small talk. "Where's Draco," she asked, looking around, not really for Draco but just for something to do. "I noticed his door open when I came down but I didn't see him."

"Library," Severus muttered through his hands while they rubbed at his face. Hermione furrowed her brow. Was that safe? Of course, she countered, now that the good wards are back on the school and it's no longer under evil's watchful eye, it would be safer for Draco, or even her for that matter, to leave the Headmasters study. Although, she knew she would most likely have a hard time of trying to convince Severus to let her go; judging on previous experience, he was not likely to let her just go out there without a fuss.

"And don't even think about it, Hermione," he said suddenly, lifting his head from his hands, as if he'd known what she was thinking about. She gave him look, half questioningly, half bitter glare. The glare didn't seem to faze him. "Just because the wards are back up doesn't mean the danger is gone. Do you have any clue how many students here are still Death Eater _spawn_," he nearly spat the words out.

"Oh and I suppose Draco is so much safer to wander the school," she argued a bit sarcastically. Severus raised and eyebrow suggestively. He knew it was the wrong move, however he couldn't help but feel that way.

"I do believe I've explained how I felt about _losing you_?"

A slight twitch of the corners of his mouth at her somewhat seething reaction.

Hermione rolled her eyes, although she had to admit the pleasurable feeling arising in her stomach and chest at the knowledge that he had really, truly meant what he had said the night before.

Truthfully, she hadn't the slightest idea what she'd do without him now either. It seemed impossible that the two had ever known a time without one another; it was strange to think that at a time, she had nearly despised him. It wasn't all that long ago really...

The rustling and swishing of a long cloak interrupted her thoughts and their argument.

"What a disgrace," McGonagall muttered upon entering the office, mostly to herself. "Just look at it! Years of history, ruined!"

"Well my sincere apologies, Minerva," Severus replied silkily. "Next time an attempt is made on my life in such a _historic place_, I'll be sure to surrender so that nothing is broken."

McGonagall pursed her lips at him; any sympathy she might have for the injured man was not present right now. He only attempted a half sneer before returning to the task of what Hermione assumed had started out as clean up.

"Miss Granger," McGonagall said, turning to Hermione after shaking her head at Severus who was now ignoring the older witch. "Could I speak with you please? In there," she added, gesturing to the living quarters with a slight glance in Severus' direction. Hermione nodded and followed McGonagall into the living room.

Professor McGonagall wasted no time in getting right to the point. "There has been information passed through the Order that Mr. Potter is on the move once again," she said matter-of-factly, slowly striding to the other side of the room. Hermione looked at her professor questioningly. Harry? Traveling again? The thought alone made her sick with worry.

"But surely Harry would be safer staying with members of the Order," Hermione said, the apprehension very present in her voice.

McGonagall turned to look at her, nodding in agreement. "Yes, but Remus said he was very adamant on proceeding alone. However, that is not what concerns me." Hermione patiently waited for her to go on. "There has been talk that he is making his way here to destroy the last Horcrux, and..." she trailed off, gazing in the direction of the office. Hermione glanced too and understood. Harry was coming to give justice to Dumbledore's death.

"You think he's going to try and—"

"Yes, Miss Granger," McGonagall said, cutting her off slightly as if she did not want her to say it. "I only wanted to let you know...before Mr. Potter storms in here and does something he'll regret." She gave Hermione a knowing look and Hermione returned it with a slight nod, glancing again in the direction of the office.

"Does Severus have any idea," she asked quietly, still looking towards the wall.

McGonagall didn't answer right away. "I'm sure he knows that Potter wishes for revenge," she answered slowly. "However, should Harry make it here with an idea to attack, the results could be catastrophic. He has not any idea of how powerful Severus is...and I'm afraid Mr. Potter has a tendency to rush into things slightly unprepared." Hermione nodded in agreement. Harry was her friend, but he could be extremely stupid sometimes...no matter how good intentioned. "I only want you to be prepared should he arrive here. I know this won't be easy for you," McGonagall continued, coming over to place a reassuring hand on Hermione's shoulder. She seemed to have inherited Dumbledore's twinkle, Hermione noted offhandedly. "You know where to find me should anything go wrong," she added, giving her shoulder a squeeze before smiling grimly and turning to leave.

Hermione hesitated until she heard her bid good day to Severus before re-entering the office herself. "How kind of her to warn you that your best friend may be on his way to kill the man you love," Severus said mockingly, not even bothering to look up from what he was doing, raising that trademark eyebrow slightly. When Hermione said nothing, he looked up to find the look on her face one of confusion. His lip curled in amusement. "Perhaps I am wrong," he nearly sneered, "but I usually find it helpful to _close the door_ when speaking about the person in the next room."

Hermione rolled her eyes. How could he possibly be so cavalier about this? Of course, McGonagall had mentioned (and Hermione knew it just as well) that Severus would best Harry in a duel any day, no matter the circumstances.

"If and when Potter decides to show up and gain his _revenge_, I have no doubt that he will fail miserably."

Hermione gave him a half-warning look, crossing her arms, cursing on the inside because she knew he was right. "Then what will you do," she said calmly, even though she had an urge to hex him right then and there for even eluding to the fact that he wanted to put her friend in any pain.

Severus snorted lightly, going back to what he was doing. Hermione concluded that was the best response she would get and so she dropped it...for the time being. She knew that if Harry showed up, there would be no telling how it would go. Perhaps she could convince Severus to allow Harry access to those memories, but most likely that attempt would be in vain. He had had a hard enough time letting McGonagall, a trusted colleague and friend, view those memories, let alone Harry Potter whom she knew he despised.

Hermione knew, though, that she would have to intervene when the time came. It was inevitable because she had a nagging feeling neither side would back down when put face-to-face.

McGonagall was right, and nothing good would come of this.

--

The days went by and soon, two weeks after McGonagall's warning, Harry still had not made his way to Hogwarts. Hermione thought this both a blessing _and _more reason for worry. She wanted him here, where he would be safe, the only problem was that he would try and kill Severus if he got the chance...and that, she could not have.

Hermione had miraculously talked Severus into allowing her a few precious hours at the library by promising to stay under the invisibility cloak and only going during class times when there would be less people around. There were a few close calls, which wouldn't have been so bad in all reality because they were merely second year Hufflepuffs that had nearly knocked her over. Severus, however, had kindly reminded her that as unlikely as it was, they could have friends that were not so harmless. Hermione had shaken her head and walked away, muttering something about "paranoid know-it-all."

Hermione made her way back to the Headmaster's office having soaked up the contents of many books within the span of two to three good hours. She was so preoccupied with trying to walk under that damn cloak, she didn't notice hurrying footsteps coming down the corridor until it was too late and they smashed into her, head on.

With a thud, she fell to the floor, taking down whoever ran into her as well. Rubbing her forehead, she glanced up into bewildered eyes. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. For a moment, she just basked in the thought that he was alive and ok and...pointing his wand in her general direction. Just as he looked to be readying himself to unknowably curse her, she tore the cloak off and looked up at him from the floor, watching how quickly relief spread over his face...then confusion.

--

A/N: Hey all, SO sorry for the wait. I just got home from school for the summer, so hopefully that means more time to update. Sorry if the end of this chapter kinda sucks...I've been having some major writer's block lately. If anyone has suggestions or anything, feel free to drop them on by...and don't forget to review :). I adore them so.


	18. Revenge is a Tiring Affair

**AN: Put the torches and pitchforks away, because here is the next chapter FINALLY! Sorry about the wait...hopefully I still have readers left! Writer's block can certainly be a pain, if you know what I mean. Anyways though, enough of that, here is the next chapter. R&R...let me know if it was worth the wait or not...**

**

* * *

**

"Harry!"

"Hermione?" Harry seemed sure that his eyes had betrayed him. He had thought her captured...or dead, but certainly he had not expected her to run into him head on while coming around the corner in his search for Snape.

He had no more time to contemplate, however, because she flung her arms around him, seeming like she'd not be letting go soon. He feared she might strangle him; finally, she released him, looking more than relieved.

"I've been so scared for you," she breathed, clearly winded. She seemed to have been running or walking very quickly indeed.

Although happy she was here, appearing safe, a question still burned in his mind. "What are you doing here," he asked almost sharply, confused.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but immediately clamped it shut as the sight shadow of a person moved in the corner behind Harry, the reasoning for him being here flooded into her mind.

She quickly brainstormed ways to distract him, anything that would deter him in some way from going to seek out Severus. Of course, little did Harry know, the man he wanted to find was mere feet away from him at this very moment. Hermione only prayed that Severus would keep his wits and not do something stupid. She knew better, however, to wish for such foolish things. This would not end well.

"Harry—" she started, unknowing of how to go about explaining this. How do you tell your best friend that for the past months you've been hiding out in the Headmaster's quarters...that you're in _love_ with said Headmaster, a man, consequently, that your best friend hates with all the passion in his being?

How would she explain that they'd been all wrong about him?

"Well wait," she said pulling back, hoping to feign confusion of some sorts...trying to buy time. "What are _you_ doing here?"

She obviously knew full well why he was here, but she needed more time to think about what she was going to have to say to him.

Harry's face hardened. "I'm here to find that treacherous, murdering, bastard Snape and give Dumbledore the justice he deserves," he spat venomously. Hermione winced but found that probably wasn't the best thing to "distract" him with just as she noticed Severus inch closer from out of the shadows. When he was finally in some light, Hermione discretely caught his eye with a warning look while Harry continued to rant about what he was here to do.

Subtly, she shook her head at Severus. He just held a very strange, eerie look in his eyes, like he had been awaiting this confrontation for a very long time. She resolved to hex him into oblivion if she had to...both of them.

"Well, well, Potter," Severus said, finally speaking, his words like fine silk. Harry spun around in a flash, backing up towards Hermione, pointing his wand in front of him. The look on his face was enough to tell how deep the hatred for this man before him went, and that he intended to do nothing but harm to him...or at least try.

"Going to kill me then, are you," Severus sneered, not even bothering to draw his wand.

"Don't," Hermione warned in deadly tone, shooting Severus a look straight in the eye. He only seemed to ignore her. Harry hadn't seemed to hear her either; he was so focused on his target before him.

"You deserve nothing more, you traitor," he growled. Severus barely raised an eyebrow.

_Severus..._Hermione warned through her mind as she caught his eye once again, knowing he'd involuntarily hear her. Again, she shook her head ever so slightly. His only response was for his mouth to curl upward in the twisted smile he reserved for his most hated of enemies. She would kill him herself if he didn't stop this soon. She wished that McGonagall or another teacher would come by; at least then she wouldn't have to try and separate these two on her own.

Hermione, however, had barely time to react as Harry lunged his wand forward at Severus. "_Crucio!"_ He yelled. Severus merely rolled his head to the side as the curse bounced along down the corridor, sneering in response.

"Is that how you expect to defeat the Dark Lord, Potter? I could hear your curse loud and clear in your mind before it even left your mouth! Have you learned absolutely nothing?"

Harry seemed to have had enough. He leapt forward then, Hermione somehow managing to grab hold of him at the last second, pulling him back. With the help of some kind of miracle, she got herself in front of him, now pushing on his chest, holding his wand arm down to the ground. He fought her furiously but she held fast.

"Stop, Harry! Listen to me," she nearly pleaded. She offhandedly noted that Severus did nothing but stand there calmly, seeming quite amused at the scene before him. "You don't understand! It's not what you think...stop!" He didn't.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," she muttered, glancing over her shoulder and glaring at Severus who was grinning slightly, still not having bothered to take out his wand. "_Stop_ provoking him," she said warningly, a piercing glare shooting him straight in the eyes.

"Let—go of me—Hermione," Harry fought even harder against her. "He deserves it, don't try and defend him, he's not—worth the—trouble!"

Suddenly, Hermione heard the blessed sound of footsteps coming towards them. It didn't faze Harry in the slightest, but she was near overjoyed. Had the situation been any different, the look on Draco's face would probably have been extremely funny as he came around the corner, suddenly met with the sight of Hermione trying to hold off Harry Potter who looked as though he was trying to attack Severus Snape.

He stopped short of the scene, remaining silent, looking nearly as amused as Severus was. That is, he _did_ look amused, until Hermione shot him a death glare. "Help me!" Draco shrugged as if to say _ok...but you asked me to..._

When Hermione said, "help", she certainly had not meant for Draco to paralyze Harry. "Draco!" she exclaimed, falling to her knees next to her friend's rigid body. Draco merely shrugged again, looking to be even more amused than before as he stowed his wand back in his pocket casually. But Hermione surprisingly turned her glare in the other direction. "And _you,_" she all but growled at Severus before he had a chance to respond. "What in Merlin's name is wrong with you? You should know better."

"I don't know what you're talking about Hermione," he said nonchalantly, examining a fingernail, but Hermione could see the inevitable smirk playing about his lips.

She pointed a finger at him. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about, _Severus._"

"I assure you—"

A promising glare shut him up.

With that, she turned back to Harry, kneeling beside him on the ground, pulling his head towards her just as McGonagall strode around the corner.

"What—what is the meaning of this," she demanded of the scene before her, pointedly fixing her sharp eyes in Severus' direction. Hermione gave a look as if to say, 'ask him'.

"Yes, do tell her what has just happened here," Hermione said matter-of-factly, raising her expression at Severus who had lost all trace of amusement and emotion on his face.

At this, McGonagall turned her questioning, scrutinizing gaze to Severus as well, waiting for a response.

Without moving, Severus looked over at Draco who looked so indifferent Hermione could have slapped him.

"Care to explain this one, Mr. Malfoy," he drawled, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards as Draco's eyes widened a bit, then narrowed quickly as he realized that Severus was going to drop the blame all on him.

Draco raised his hands in defense. "I was only doing what _she_ told me to do," he said defensively, pointing at Hermione who glared in return.

"I told you to _help me_, Draco! Not _stun him_," she exclaimed, near furious that this was getting turned back on her. Draco only shrugged, quietly muttering something about it did actually help, but Hermione ignored him, turning back to Severus, not even giving McGonagall the chance to get over the fact that Draco had stunned Harry in an effort to "help".

"This never would have happened if _you,_" she pointed a finger at Severus, "had just stayed put where you were! And on top of it all, you go and provoke him into attacking! What on Earth is the matter with you?"

The surprise at her outburst only stayed on Severus' face for a moment before it turned blank once again and he spoke. "Do you honestly think that Potter could have done _anything_ to me," he asked, the question basically rhetorical; Hermione knew that Harry's lack of skill at Occlumency was one of his larger flaws when it came to dueling.

"Nevertheless, Severus," McGonagall finally said, stepping in between the three of them, the authority quite present in her voice, "I believe in this instance, Miss Granger is correct."

Severus made a noise in his throat suggesting he thought differently, making Hermione glare in his direction again, but it only kept her attention for a short time for she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.

Harry was waking up.

* * *

Hermione immediately knelt at his side as he started to stir.

"Harry?" She asked cautiously, putting a careful hand on his shoulder to make sure he wouldn't bolt for Severus the moment he opened his eyes. Harry groaned, bringing one hand up to his head.

"What happened," he grumbled, rubbing his temple, looking around a little to try and find out what was going on. Hermione felt him tense under her hand, knowing immediately why. Instantly, she held tighter to his shoulder, grasping some of his shirt, just in case.

"Are you ok," she tried quietly, hoping to divert his attention elsewhere.

It, of course, didn't work.

"You greasy bastard," Harry said murderously, already struggling to get up, but Hermione held fast, keeping him down. "You knocked me out! Bloody coward; probably were trying to _kill _me, just like you killed—"

"That is quite enough, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said sternly, stepping forward so she was in his line of sight. Harry jumped, startled at the appearance of his professor. He looked, wildly for a few seconds from Hermione to McGonagall to Severus, apparently very confused indeed.

Severus, who Hermione noticed had briefly gone white at Harry's words, was now gripping his wand so tightly it seemed it would crush beneath his fingers...only Hermione noticed. She looked up at him, willing him to look at her in an effort to calm him whilst still keeping a firm hand on Harry.

It worked to some degree; she held his gaze for a few seconds and watched his expression soften, but only in the slightest bit.

"Now," continued McGonagall, "there is much we all need to be filled in on; _all_ of us," she added as Severus rolled his eyes. "I suggest we retire to the Headmaster's office and get this sorted out, don't you?"

Hermione was the only one who nodded, the rest of them standing there blankly, refusing to be the one who would agree, even though they all knew McGonagall would have her way as always. The look on McGonagall's face suggested that she would not be taking arguments from anyone on the matter whatsoever.

Immediately, Severus swept away down the corridor towards the gargoyle, not giving a second glance to anyone. Hermione let it go; she would have time to sort him out later. First, she had to sort Harry out before he killed the man she loved...

Oh, what a day it was turning out to be.

"Will you be needing the hospital wing, Mr. Potter," McGonagall inquired as Harry used Hermione for support to get up off of the floor, groaning a bit in discomfort as he did so and holding onto his stomach.

"No," he shook his head, "I'll be alright, Professor."

He was still clearly partially befuddled as to why Professor McGonagall was standing up for Snape.

But nonetheless, he began to follow Hermione and McGonagall towards the stone gargoyle, which was already opened, the stairs waiting for them to climb. The ride to the top was silent, and when they reached the doorway, Hermione could tell how uneasy Harry had become, even more so as he saw Severus sitting at the desk.

Gently, she placed her hand on his arm, hoping he would stay calm...or at least calm enough. She just didn't want another duel to break out in this office. She hoped that wouldn't be too much to ask for.

Seeming reluctant, Harry sat down next to Hermione in the chairs across from where Severus sat. Professor McGonagall remained standing, authoritive as always, shortly followed by Severus himself, who stood the moment Harry sat down. Harry made to move again, but Hermione applied pressure to his arm, telling him to stay put.

Thankfully, he complied.

"Professor," Harry said after a while of silence, addressing McGonagall, "what is going on here?"

"I do not believe anyone gave you permission to speak, Potter," Severus said coolly, glaring at him over his nose. Hermione shook her head the slightest bit, not at either of them in particular, but just the entire situation that Severus certainly was not making any better.

"Please, Severus, shall we try to be the least bit civil?" McGonagall said almost with as much exasperation as Hermione felt. He only crossed his arms in response, raising an eyebrow when Harry took the opportunity to throw him the dirtiest look he could manage without McGonagall or Hermione noticing.

"Then what is it, Minerva, that you felt such a strong need to share with us? Because I daresay I have other things I'd much rather be doing with my afternoon than fending off Potter's pathetic attempts to harm me," said Severus in a bored tone as he examined his fingernails.

"If Hermione hadn't been there, I would have done more than harm you, you—"

"Harry!" Hermione hissed, applying more pressure to his arm.

He gave her a bewildered look. "What is it with you today? Stop defending him like he's worth the trouble, Hermione!"

"Enough." This time, it was McGonagall who spoke, her tone sharp. Hermione wasn't sure what to say to Harry. Her mind was screaming _of course he's worth the trouble!_ But in Harry's view, Severus should still be the traitorous bat he always had been to Hermione. Never mind the fact that she had somewhere, deep down, always held on to some kind light that there was a reason for it all...and she had been right, but Harry didn't know that, wouldn't have listened in any case had Hermione explained the feeling.

It didn't matter right now though; Harry needed to know the truth or this would never end. She knew what Severus would have to do.

She also had another one of those good feelings it would not be easy to persuade him to do it.

For what could have been the hundredth time, Hermione heard Harry ask what was going on, and Severus bite back with a nasty retort. Her thoughts had suddenly become a jumbled mess, and she had to shake her head to clear them.

"I need to talk to you," she said to Severus quietly, her jaw set, ready for argument. "No, _now,_" she said in a slightly deadly tone when he started to protest. Ignoring Harry and his new look of mixed horror, shock, and confusion at how she had just spoken to the Headmaster, Hermione nodded ever so slightly towards the door to his quarters.

Severus only observed her for a moment, his face a mask, but Hermione knew his mind was sure to be racing. For a second or two, she thought she was going to have to use her wand to get him to listen, but much to her surprise, he swiftly turned and strode towards the door, walking in and standing in the middle of the room with his back to the door.

Hermione sighed quietly and followed with determination. She would have to get through to him somehow, and it was now or never.

"What the _bloody hell_ is going on, Professor," was the last thing she heard Harry exclaim before the sound was cut off as she closed the door.

"Severus," she said. Nothing. "Severus, look at me."

Without turning to face her, he said, "do not talk to me as though I am a child, Hermione...and don't you dare say I'm acting like one!"

"I wasn't going to," she said honestly, shaking her head. Had this been under any other circumstances, she would have to call it childish, but not this. Yes, he wasn't making the situation any better, but she knew this wasn't easy for him.

She took a deep breath. "You know what you have to do," she said evenly, readying herself for a less than pleasant response.

"No," he muttered, still not turning around.

"Severu—"

"NO!" He finally spun around at this, losing his temper, but Hermione didn't falter. She was nearly used to this by now. She kept her face calm, allowing him to yell at her and get it out.

"Minerva was one thing, Hermione, but _not _Potter. I refuse to allow him access to that, it is none of his damn business!"

"None of his business?" She asked incredulously. "How can you say that? It has everything to do with him, of course it's his business!" She waited for a few seconds before speaking again. "He needs to see it, he needs to understand," she said, bringing her tone back down to a normal level, almost pleading within reasoning. "And he never will if he doesn't know the truth first."

"I don't want his pity," he spat bitterly, turning away from her again.

"You underestimate him," Hermione stated, shaking her head sadly. "It is understanding you'll receive, acceptance, but certainly not pity."

Severus scoffed, starting to pace very slowly. "From the great Gryffindor hero," he mocked, "I expect nothing but pity for something so _tragic._"

"Stop," she said softly in reference to both his pacing and his attitude. The pacing stopped; the attitude, she knew, would never be gone as long as he lived, but for now it needed to be replaced with something else to put this situation to rest.

"You let me deal with Harry and his reaction." He raised an eyebrow at her. To this, she only smiled slightly. "Have a little faith in me," she said tilting her head to the side to look at him, ready for whatever response he had for her.

Surprisingly, albeit a small one, he nodded, although holding a very prominent frown on his face, obviously still not very happy with the idea of allowing Harry access to his deepest, most revealing memories.

With that, he began to stride from the room, most likely intending to brush past her, but Hermione caught his hand, gently stopping him as he got to her. He, of course, immediately came to a halt, looking down at her, he face unreadable.

She smiled with a soft expression; a thank you of sorts. She knew she couldn't say or do much right here, what with Harry and his temper who could come bursting in at any moment. Right now certainly was not the right time to tell him anything about what had happened since she'd been here, but as she looked up into those deep, black eyes, she knew he understood.

What he hoped she didn't know was how quickly his heart had begun to race at her hand in his own, and her eyes on his.

Of course, little did _he_ know that she felt it the moment they touched.


	19. Empathy

Hermione watched as Harry came out of the pensive, seeming in a daze. She didn't blame him; she hadn't known what to say or do after her trip through Severus' memories.

That seemed like forever ago.

Severus had refused to be present while "Potter plunders through my memories," as he so eloquently put it, and disappeared out of the office and down the stairs before anyone could protest. Hermione figured maybe it would be better, easier, that way anyways; Harry would be able to concentrate if Severus wasn't there with a sarcastic comment at every turn.

Harry looked around at McGonagall and Hermione, still with the same look on his face as if he wasn't quite sure of what he had just seen, yet at the same time, acceptance was very much present in his eyes.

This was something Hermione was certainly grateful for. Perhaps this would be ok after all.

"I think I shall leave you two to discuss," McGonagall said finally, beginning to make her way towards the staircase. "I trust you know where to find me should anything go amiss?"

Hermione nodded and with that, she was gone and out of site, leaving Harry to ask every burning question he had within him.

"I 'spose this changes everything, doesn't it," Harry asked as he sat down heavily into a chair, staring at the floor beneath his feet. Hermione felt herself nodding. If only he knew just how much it had changed for _her._

"I just can't believe that all this time he...Dumbledore...it was all planned," Harry trailed off, shaking his head to himself. "Why wouldn't he just tell me?"

"Harry, think about it, how could he?" Harry gave her a puzzling look. She sighed and sat down next to him in the other chair, placing a hand on his knee.

"If he had told you of the plans, surely you would have seen fit to take drastic measures to save him...and Severus needed to keep up appearances; had you known and actually, heaven forbid, trusted him at all, Voldemort would have been suspicious."

Harry started nodding, apparently agreeing with her when something clicked in his mind and he stopped. "Severus?" he asked suddenly, looking at her even more questioningly. Hermione silently cursed herself for not catching that. Harry didn't know yet.

Now she was going to have to do some very quick thinking.

Miraculously, she managed to wave it off nonchalantly. "I've been here for over two and a half months, Harry," she said waving her hand dismissively. "Things have changed."

Harry didn't appear entirely convinced, but seemed to drop it in any case.

"I just still can't believe, I mean, my mum...and _him_...it just doesn't seem right. But then again, it makes all the bloody sense in the world...no wonder he hates me so much."

"He doesn't hate you." Harry gave her a skeptical look.

She continued, "He hates the _idea_ of you. How would you feel if you had to see the eyes of the woman you loved sitting in the face of a man you hated?" Harry's expression was first one of mild disgust, then more acceptance, proof as he began nodding his head slowly.

"Now it's time for him to move on," she said. "Time for _both_ of you to move on. We have a war to win, and that isn't going to get done if we're holding on to silly grudges from the past." She tilted her head down to look at him as he kept his eyes to the floor.

"Please," she said quietly. "Please, just tell me you'll try. I know it's not easy, but—"

"I will," he interrupted, looking up to meet her gaze, clearly not entirely thrilled about making friends with Snape, but the look in his eyes told Hermione he was at least willing to try...and that was plenty good reason for her to smile at him.

He half-heartedly grinned back. "So then, what's it been like being here with the bat of the dungeons?"

Hermione laughed. "You can't call him that anymore; if you haven't previously noticed, he no longer lives in the dungeons."

"True. But he's still a greasy git..."

Hermione contacted McGonagall after an hour or so of talking with Harry, trying to find a suitable place for him to, technically speaking, hide. His intentions, of course, had been to storm in, get his justice for Dumbledore, and get out. That had obviously changed now.

He couldn't simply lounge around the castle, even if the protective wards were back in place now. There were still children of Death Eaters, although most of them had already left the school to join their parents at Voldemort's side.

It, in short, was just not safe.

After Harry had gone off with McGonagall to some other part of the castle, Hermione found herself feeling suddenly very guilty; she had not once asked where Ron was, if he was safe. She had just been so preoccupied with trying to calm Harry down and whatnot, the thought just hadn't occurred to her at the moment.

Of course, she was sure that there was nothing to worry about. If anything bad had happened to Ron, Harry would have told her straight away...right?

She decided to calm her mind down by reading, at least until Severus came back...whenever _that_ was going to be.

When a few hours passed and he had not returned, she sighed and placing down her book on the couch, got up and proceeded to leave to find him.

She first tried the kitchen. It was devoid of any human beings, and so continued onwards, being cautious all the while as not to attract any unwanted attention to herself.

The library, she knew would hold no promises either—it was far too student-populated for Severus to sulk in—so she didn't even bother looking there. After a while, she simply began to wander the quiet hallways; it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and nearly everyone was outside enjoying it, so she had next to no worries about being discovered. Nevertheless, she kept to the shadowy parts of the hall as much as possible, just in case.

She was about to give it up and go back when she realized that she recognized where she was. It was the same corridor Severus had taken her down the day he'd shown her the garden, and sure enough, as she rounded a corner, there it was. The light peeked out in a gentle sliver from the hidden doorway, and she was sure that had someone happened to walk by it they wouldn't have noticed at all.

Sure she was going to find him there, Hermione slipped in and walked the length of the tunnel until the light of the sun hit her face. There was the beautiful, perfect garden just as she remembered it...but no Severus to be seen.

Letting out somewhat of a disappointed sigh, Hermione began to stroll forward a bit, taking in the fresh air and the sunshine, knowing she didn't get many opportunities to do so.

After spending so much time in the blasted woods, she thought, it was odd to think that now that was what she craved the most, what she missed about not being in hiding.

"So it's done then," came a grudging voice from behind her. Hermione jumped and turned, only to start again as Severus was barely inches away, looking down at her with a disgruntled expression. "When should I expect the sympathy card?"

Hermione rolled her eyes discretely, but cracked a gentle, reassuring smile at him. She reached up with her hand and rested it on his forearm. "I know that was hard," she said, ignoring his question and smiling again at his trademark eyebrow raise. In response, she slid her arms around his middle, leaning into him, resting her head against his chest. She closed her eyes happily when she felt him relax into her and wrap his own arms around her, pulling her closer yet, resting his chin on her head and breathing out in a long sigh.

"Thank you," she murmured quietly, still holding him; holding him so he knew she really meant it.

She loved the feeling of his chin on the top of her head as he spoke. "Don't get used too it," he said silkily, but in the same quiet tone she had used. "That is the _last _little friend of yours who even gets within breathing distance of that Pensive."

"Oh really?" She smiled up at him.

Severus scowled. "Perhaps I should just sell tickets to whomever wishes to see the pathetic memories of Severus Snape," he droned in a sarcastically irritated voice.

"Yes, I can see it now," mused Hermione, but dared not go any further into her vision of what it would be like because of the death glare she was now receiving. Not that it intimidated her anymore; on the contrary, they made her laugh at times like these. She couldn't help it.

His still-serious expression caused hers to soften back to understanding. She felt as if he was worried she wasn't taking it seriously, that she would parade a whole group of people in there if she could.

"You know I would never allow anyone access to that who didn't need to see it." She pulled back from him a little bit to fully look up at him. Severus wouldn't meet her gaze though; he suddenly found a spot to the left of her very fascinating indeed.

Hermione brought a gentle hand up to his cheek, not needing to use much effort to make him look at her. "I only mean that it is yours to tell, not mine. Harry needed to see it because he has to trust you...whether or not you two like it, you're going to be needing each other in the near future." Severus raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her statement, which she only returned. It was the truth, and they would both have to admit it sometime. Harry needed Severus to teach him how to fight a Death Eater. Severus needed Harry to win, to rid him (and the rest of the world, for that matter) of Voldemort's plaguing presence...Severus' personal Hell that was Voldemort's existence. It would all be over when Harry triumphed.

To do that, though, Harry was going to require all of the help he could get, starting with learning how to fight properly and keep his mind closed.

That help, Severus could provide.

Now all Hermione had to do was get both of them to agree to it.

No one ever said life was easy.

It didn't take long for things to become yet, more complicated, if that was even possible. Once Harry found out that Draco Malfoy was also hiding out in Hogwarts, he went ballistic; it took nearly everything Hermione, Neville, and McGonagall had combined to make him calm down again.

Professor McGonagall had thought it safest (and was backed up on the matter by Severus) to give Harry somewhat of a safe room that was not in the Headmaster's quarters. The room allowed him access, and recognized Hermione as well.

Harry had, of course, protested, seeing as he wanted to see Ginny as soon as possible, and inquired why he couldn't just stay in Gryffindor Tower with everyone else.

"You couldn't possibly be more ignorant, could you Potter," Severus sneered earning a well-aimed glare from Harry as well as a small one from Hermione, warning him not to push it again.

Ignoring them, Severus went on, "don't think for one moment that there aren't any informants in this castle. The miniature Death Eaters are running around everywhere; an attack on the school is as sure as daytime if you are seen here. But by all means, Potter," he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and shrugging indifferently, "cause a mass attack. It wouldn't be the first time your resounding selfishness has caused an uproar."

"I believe," said Hermione, raising her voice with a bit of exasperation, "that what Severus is _trying_ to say, is that you're better off staying away from people for the time being." She eyed Severus carefully for any sign he was about to start up again, but he merely sat there, watching her explain, an eyebrow slightly raised.

Looking slightly unnerved at Hermione using Snape's first name, Harry starting shaking his head. "Yeah, well what about all your other little friends then, huh?" Harry asked harshly to Severus. "How do you plan to 'hide' me here when _here_ is the first place they'll be looking?"

Severus didn't answer immediately. He seemed to contemplate his answer as he carefully looked at Harry, tracing his mouth thoughtfully with his index finger.

"You think you're awfully smart, don't you, Potter," he started quietly after a few moments, but Hermione interrupted him.

"Stop it," she said in an even tone, trying not to lose her temper at the two of them, yet again. And besides, neither one could take any more provoking. After the duel with the Death Eaters, this poor office couldn't take any more beatings just yet.

"Harry, look, I know how you feel, I do, but this is the safest way. The castle might be secure, yes, but it's like we've said before, not everyone here is on our side anymore. Worse still, we don't even know how to weed out the bad from the good, only a good idea. Nothing good can come of you being captured, Harry." Severus discretely snorted his disagreement.

Harry nodded a few times in thought, knowing she was probably right. He then suddenly looked up. "And what about you," he asked in somewhat of a concerned voice.

Hermione gave him a questioning look. "What about me, Harry?"

She noticed him give a sideways glare at Severus before continuing. "Are you sure it's safe for you to be up here? With _him?_"

Both Hermione and Severus opened their mouths to answer; Severus more to retort angrily than answer, but McGonagall stepped up to field this one.

"Potter," she said sternly, but quietly, "I believe Hermione has been quite safe during the time she's been here. I think you will find her testimony on that to be the same as mine, am I correct?" She looked sharply at Hermione who nodded quickly. That would have been a difficult discussion indeed. She was thankful McGonagall had been there and they had sidestepped a very awkward conversation.

"Well what if they come looking for me, Professor," Harry asked, leaving the previous topic to rest for now. "Once they learned I've left searching the countryside, they'll know I'm here, so won't they come anyways?"

"Again, Potter, your lack of intelligence ceases to amaze me," Severus said almost casually causing the glare on Harry's face to come back. Hermione and McGonagall exchanged knowing glances.

"Oh, and what do _you_ propose will happen, _sir?_"

Severus returned the glare as he slowly sat up again fully in his chair. He rested his chin on his hands and looked almost thoughtfully at Harry, although Hermione knew it was more of a calming method so as Severus wouldn't lash out and curse him right then and there.

"If I had my way, _Potter,_" he sneered, "the fate of our world wouldn't be resting on your shoulders. No, it would be someone far more capable and slightly less big-headed than yourself. However, this is not the case and although I cringe at the thought of you standing up to the Dark Lord, he and his Death Eaters will wait for the opportune moment to strike, meaning the time after they've realized where you are and have time to plan their attack. It is inevitable."

"Alright now," said McGonagall a tad warningly but finding the two men were barely listening whilst glaring daggers at one another. "Shall we move on from such a topic? Harry, I'm sure you would like to retire for the d—"

"Potter, you will never be able to duel with the Dark Lord, I am sure of it," Severus continued unceremoniously, ignoring McGonagall who looked as though she wanted very much to slap her colleague right there. Hermione wasn't feeling very differently either.

Harry rose slightly. "Oh, you don't think I have it in me to fight? To kill?" He nearly shouted.

"I _know so_, Potter," Severus spat, slowly standing up, pushing on the desk to lean over and tower down on Harry. "You won't last one—minute, you selfish little—"

"—Teach him," Hermione blurted out before she even knew what was happening. All three pairs of eyes immediately turned in her direction, all wearing the same confused expression.

"Teach Harry, Severus. Teach him how to control his mind, how to fight properly against Death Eaters. Teach him how to _win_."

Harry was the first to protest. "No way, Hermione," he said vehemently, shaking his head and crossing his arms. "If you think for one minute I'm going to let him anywhere near me with a wand again to _teach_ me...yeah, I've been there already, so no thanks. I'll pass on that one."

Hermione gave him an exasperated look, before turning to McGonagall, hoping she could be the voice of reason.

"It could really help," she pointed out in an obvious tone while watching McGonagall's expression to see if it was one of acceptance or rejection. Fortunately, it seemed to be the former.

"She does have a point, you know, Severus," McGonagall finally said, still looking like she was contemplating the situation.

"And what is it, Minerva, that makes you think I would agree to...train him to fight?" Severus sat back down into his chair, leaning back and waving a lazy hand questioningly, resting his other under his chin, awaiting an answer.

"Better still," Severus continued, not allowing her to answer him, "do you realize the manner in which I will have to teach him? This will not be some afternoon dueling club. I will not be nice."

"Oh, you're never nice," McGonagall sigh with an exasperated wave of her hand. "Yes, I think this will be a good idea. Potter, I'm sure you have no objections." Not a question, a statement.

Harry eyed Severus wearily before shrugging slightly and nodding, resigned.

"Severus?"

Severus' expression showed exactly how he felt about it.

Satisfied, McGonagall rose from her seat. "Come, Potter," she said, placing a quick, reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'll escort you back to your new quarters."

Harry nodded, muttering a quick goodbye to Hermione, before walking to the door with McGonagall.

Pausing at the door, McGonagall turned and addressed Severus. "I'll be in touch later in the week to discuss his training schedule," she said, giving him a pointed look over the top of her glasses, daring him to argue.

"If you must."

With one more piercing look, McGonagall turned and left, leaving the office quiet once again.

"Well done, Hermione..." Severus grumbled, fixing her with what he must have thought was a menacing glare. However, to his dismay, she laughed. He tried to ignore how beautiful she looked.

"Oh Severus, do you honestly think you're brooding is going to get you out of this one?"

"Well it damn well is worth a try!"

She laughed even more. Setting a glare on his face and slowly rising from his seat slowed her laughing abruptly to small, poorly contained fits of giggles. He noticed that she couldn't manage to keep a smile off of her face, though.

"Are you trying to intimidate me," she asked innocently, gazing up as he rounded the desk towards her.

He nodded.

"And do you think that it's working?"

Another nod. He was right next to her. She fought the feeling of how fast her heart had started beating, pounding like crazy the second McGonagall and Harry had left the room, knowing they were alone again.

Trying to annoy him, Hermione scrunched up her face, shaking her head. "I don't think it is..."

Without time for another thought, Severus took her by the hands, pulling her up to a stand faster than she could breathe. She gasped in surprise as she was all but crushed up against him. He pressed one hand to the small of her back, pulling her close to him while the other still had a firm hold on her wrist.

"You know," she swallowed, seeming to almost lose her nerve with every second they were this close. "You do seem to be very well-versed in this art of intimidation..."

His raised eyebrow was all she saw before he kissed her; she was completely breathless before she even knew what had happened.

Locked there they were as Severus leaned into her with no sign of stopping. Hermione wrapped a lose arm around his neck, holding him right where he was, urging him on with each one of her returned kisses until she could barely breath anymore.

Reluctantly, they broke apart, lips lingering centimeters from one another as they tried to catch their breath.

"You were saying..." Severus offered, looking down at her, still just as close to her face. He could feel her sweet, warm breath washing over his own.

All Hermione seemed to be able to do was swallow several times, clearly still trying to regain some sense, not to mention breath properly.

"Forgetting, are we," he offered when she didn't answer.

At this, she met his gaze and smiled, whispering, "kiss me like that again and maybe I'll remember."

Severus allowed a smirk to grace his features as he reached out to graze a gentle hand against her cheek as he began to lean in again.

"Indeed."

**A/N: Well, I'm now back at school (with decent internet service) so hopefully that'll mean more updates sooner! Thanks to you all for being patient as I juggle work and writer's block. I'll try to get chapter 20 up soon! **


	20. His Expertise

"I'm going to tear you apart, Potter!" Severus' voice roared across the room. On the other end, Harry lay on the ground, trying to heave himself up. "That is, unless you learn to keep your mind closed...and you WILL learn," he promised as he slowly advanced, wand drawn in front of him. It was like watching a predator stalk its prey.

"For—the last—time," Harry panted in a low voice. He was extremely worn, bleeding from what seemed like every surface. "I don't know how!"

Growling, Severus cast a silent spell, forcing Harry to flatten against the floor. He resisted, but Severus was too strong. "THEN YOU'RE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH!" He released the spell, leaving Harry breathing harder than before. "Focus, Potter," he spat, turning in a sweep of robes and returning to the other end of the room. "Clear. Your. Mind. Now _hit_ _me_ with something."

Harry staggered forward, throwing out a silent stunner. In all actuality, he had become quite good at non-verbal spells. It was closing his mind that was still giving him troubles, and it certainly showed.

Severus easily deflected the stunner with a flick of his wrist, sending it waywardly skidding across the floor, causing Harry to shield himself with his arms as debris flew up around him.

"Is it too much to ask that you don't destroy the flooring as well," called McGonagall from where she, Draco and Hermione watched in a corner of the room. Severus ignored her as he sent more spells at Harry, completely too focused to answer.

Hermione was, obviously, a bit torn. She stood by and watched at these dueling lessons, worrying her bottom lip or finger nails with her teeth as the two of them beat each other up with spells and curses. She never cheered on one or the other out loud; she rooted for Harry because he was her friend and he needed to win and learn. She had obvious reasoning for wanting Severus to be triumphant.

That aside, Hermione knew what Severus had to do to Harry to accomplish this. Going into it for the first time had been somewhat of a shock, to say the least. Severus had not been nice by any means, and had made it a concrete point that this would be no "afternoon dueling club."

_But Harry needs this,_ she resigned. It would all turn out for the best in the end. Right now, he just had to get through the rough patch of closing his mind off to easy invasion, and as hard as Severus was being on him, Hermione had to admit (albeit grudgingly) it would most likely benefit Harry in the end.

_Legilimens, _Severus muttered as Harry made the mistake of looking him in the eyes. Instantly, Hermione could see him fighting it. Her fingernails flew to her mouth, an instant aid for the anxiety.

Harry had fallen to his knees when suddenly, "NO!" Harry's voice rang out through the room as at the same time, a jet of light and sparks flew from his wand which was unfortunately pointing in an upward position.

None of them had time for much reaction as whatever came from the wand hit the ceiling, causing stone to crash and rain down around them all. Hermione, Draco and McGonagall were far enough backed into the corner where nothing much hit them. Severus, however, was not so fortunate.

Part of the dust cleared just in time for them to see what seemed to be the largest chunk of ceiling come crashing down, hitting Severus right on the head. He collapsed, unconscious in a heap on the floor. And then, for him, there was blackness.

- - -

His head pounded, it ached.

_Bloody ow._

Potter.

_That dunderhead..._

Someone needed to teach that idiot a lesson he was not likely to forget.

Severus realized in bitterness that it would be him who would again, be doing the teaching, putting what little well being he still possessed in distress.

Slowly, he opened one eye a fraction. He was in the hospital wing, he noted. Typical. Now they would be all over him, prying and poking and Merlin only knows what else. He would have been content to heal in his own quarters, thank you very much.

Across the ward he saw Hermione sitting next to the bed where Potter probably was. She was speaking in almost a whisper, but he could still here the gentle reverb of her voice. Involuntarily, he felt himself start to relax slightly before shaking his head, remembering he was still livid at the boy in the bed across from him.

Potter was going to have to learn to control his mind. Severus could hear precisely what spells were coming at him before Potter even opened his mouth. He would be helpless against the Dark Lord.

_Speaking of the devil,_ he thought as a searing pain drove through his arm. He clenched his teeth, as he had done many times since the incident with the Death Eaters. He refused to be mollycoddled over it. He sighed as it subsided after a while and relaxed again, his breathing returning to normal. Wondering how long it would take the boy wonder to learn to stop broadcasting his thoughts, Severus slowly drifted back off to sleep.

--

Training sessions continued. Harry improved, in most everyone's eyes, greatly. To Severus, of course, there was still work to be done. True, Harry was not perfect in his dueling skills, but he could now fire silent spells without any prior warning to his opponent.

With this, Severus could not deny his was pleased.

Neither of them had come out quite as scathed as the first session anymore either. Severus did manage to bang Harry around quite a bit though. Hermione had a feeling that he was being a little harder on him for his own enjoyment.

"Are you sure you aren't enjoying this—torturing Harry—a little too much, Severus," she asked one day as they walked back to his quarters after a dueling session.

Looking sideways at him, she caught the tiniest shadow of a smirk. "Of course not." His face instantly was devoid of any grinning, his voice as serious as though he were teaching a class, but she knew inside, he was still smirking. He was impossible sometimes.

Hermione made a skeptical noise, eyeing him somewhat suspiciously as he stepped aside, allowing her entrance to the office before him.

"All I'm saying is that he needs your help, as you very well know," she continued, not caring that Severus was probably behind her rolling his eyes. "It would be nice if you could at least _pretend_ you weren't getting your kicks out beating his brains out every other day of the week." She turned around and jabbed him in the chest with her index finger, emphasizing her point.

Severus raised his hand in mock-truce, then placing it over his heart in an even more sarcastic gesture, bowing his head slightly. "Truly, I beseech you accept my deepest apologies for my mistreatment of your friend."

Hermione only cocked her head slightly to the side, looking at him with a raised expression, an expression to tell him to knock it off.

And then she too grinned slightly. "Well don't let it happen again," she said through gritted teeth, playfully jabbing him this time. She knew it would be impossible to remain angry with him for long.

Taking her hand as she poked him in the chest, he splayed it out, pressing his own hand flat against hers. He watched her as she studied it; the change in attitude apparent as she softened to his gesture.

"I used to admire these hands," she said suddenly, yet softly, not betraying the mood. She looked up to see his slightly raised eyebrow in questioning. With a slightly embarrassed smile, she looked back down at their hands, drawing breath to elaborate, turning her hand over in his to hold it as she did so.

"While you worked on potions," she continued, her voice becoming softer out of shyness. "So skilled...the way you handled, well, everything." She shrugged slightly. Turning his hand over, she ran her own across his palm gently. "They've seen, done, so much. So experienced..."

With another small smile, she looked back up to him, meeting his eyes. He was giving the same look back; he gave her chills by merely gazing into her eyes, into her very soul.

"Yes, experienced," he finally whispered as his free hand reached up and touched her cheek, moving back tenderly to cup her face, his thumb brushing in the gentlest of ways across her skin. He leaned in then, slowly, and kissed her, their other hands intertwining quietly, tenderly, with minute passion.

It was the kind of quiet passion that simply said, 'I love you.'

His hands trailed expertly down her upper arms, straying then to her sides where they ended, resting on her hips. They continued slowly in their embrace, each one taking an equal amount of care. It was as if they were dancing, their movements precise in time to a rhythm unheard by the entire world except for the two of them.

Hermione ran her own hand across his cheek, caressing, loving the way he responded by leaning into her as if asking, no demanding more. She was all but unwilling to oblige.

Reluctantly, they broke apart, but not moving, lingering only inches from each other. Hermione closed her eyes, savoring the taste, the feeling of him on her lips. She was sure he was doing the same. With just an equal tenderness, Severus held her head gently in his hands. He simply held her for a brief moment, and then placed one firmly soft kiss on her temple.

Suddenly, the door banged open fiercely, breaking the moment, revealing a flustered-looking Minerva McGonagall. "Severus," she panted, out of breath. Hermione was instantly worried by her tone of voice. "The Death Eaters are here..."

There was momentarily a stunned silence in which Minerva took another breath. "The castle is being attacked."

Hermione was sure her own face had gone pale. She looked up at Severus who held her gaze for an instant. She saw the merest flicker of unease and panic before it went back to stone and he looked to McGonagall, speaking in a voice that would not betray his well-hidden anxiety.

"Then it is time.

* * *

**AN: sorry this one was so short! I'm still battling with the writer's block at the moment, but I wanted to get something up because I know a lot of you have been waiting (and very patiently too!). So I thank you, deeply, for sticking with me. Hopefully you aren't too disappointed with this chapter. /**

**I'm not sure, at this point, how much farther I want this to go exactly. Any input is greatly apprieciated. I have a few different endings floating around in my head, so I'll see where it takes me after this point in the story.**

**Review? :) **


	21. The Final Battle

A heavy silence had befallen the Headmaster's quarters, yet Hermione's ears nearly rang from it.

Severus stood at one end of the sofa, his back to her, head bowed just slightly. She knew what he was thinking, discerning the inevitable that was about to come upon them all.

Professor McGonagall had left to alert all the Order members possible. Even with arriving help, Hermione had a feeling they were to be severely outnumbered. There was much to be done, and very little time in which to do it. The Death Eaters had not yet infiltrated the castle's strong wards put in place to keep evil out, but it was only a matter of time.

Hermione could barely take the silence any longer. She wanted him to speak, to say something. She would even rather have him yell at her than have his silence. Silence where she could almost see the million things going through his cluttered mind.

What to do? Who to send out to fight? How long would they last? How long would Harry last?

Once again, the sound of hurried steps reached their ears. Hermione turned as McGonagall came into view, breathing hard but looking better composed that before. She had obviously gotten a hold of herself.

"Severus," she said, coming to a halt near the doorway. "I've sent word to Headquarters but the Dark Lord's army has them blocked out. They can't get in at the moment, but we're working on it."

"I thought as much," he said in a low voice, not turning to face them. "The students?"

"Yes, the younger ones are in the Room of Requirement for now. It should keep them safe." She took a breath. "The older students who wish to fight are assembled in the Great Hall with Potter and Malfoy. I'm sorry to say that many Slytherins are missing...it seems they have joined the ranks of their parents outside of the castle."

Hermione did not bother to conceal the disgusted expression on her face at hearing this. The traitorous cowards.

Still, Severus remained with his back to them. "We will have to make a stand without the Order, Minerva. You realize this?"

The older witch nodded carefully. "Yes, but we cannot hold them off very long alone. At some point, we will need back up."

Severus nodded in agreement.

"The last Horcrux, Minerva. It's the snake. I'm sure of it. Tell Potter he is not to even remotely think about finishing the Dark Lord until Nagini is dead."

He didn't wait for a response before continuing in the same, subdued tone of voice. "I shall come to the Great Hall shortly. Please, see that all that wish to fight are there and prepared to do so."

With a final nod, McGonagall turned and left, following Severus' orders.

With slow steps, Hermione made her way across the room, placing a hand in the very center of Severus' back. He gazed over his shoulder at her with his eyes.

"I...don't suppose you would stay here even if I begged you to, would you," he said, taking in a very deep breath, as though he was about to go underwater.

Hermione shook her head. "No," she whispered, staring straight ahead of her, past him, to the wall, only looking up when he finally turned to her, laying his hand on her cheek with a touch like air, nodding with acceptance that she would not abandon this fight.

Closing her eyes, she leaned into his hand ever so slightly, relishing the feel of his skin against hers, trying not to think how it could very well be the last time either of them would feel such a thing from the other.

Moving his hand under her jaw, he titled her face up to look at him. With sad eyes, she regarded him, the intensity of his gaze almost too much to bear. Everything he felt was for once, plainly etched on every inch of his face.

She saw anticipation, fear, uncertainty, and most importantly, love.

Taking her by the hand, he pulled her up to him, gently taking her lips to his own, moving with compassion, spilling every ounce of his love without words. Neither moved away when they broke apart, but stayed there, lingering until Hermione felt his grasp tighten slightly on her hand.

"Let's go dance with the devil."

oOoOo

"Harry?"

He was sitting alone in a corner of the Great Hall, sitting on top of a table, starting ahead of him, eyes unfocussed. He was preparing.

Silently, Hermione moved to sit next to him. Glancing sideways at him, she saw how rigid his features were. It was as if he was finally putting all of those lessons into practice, for real this time. He knew what was about to happen, what all was at stake.

Lives. _His_ life.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this, Hermione." His voice was hard, but very quiet. She noticed that his hands had clenched into fists when he had spoke.

Hermione knew that this situation, were it any other, would call for simply telling him 'of course you're ready. You'll do just fine, Harry.' This was obviously not the case here. It was very possible that this would not end 'fine', or even close to it. Lives would be lost; there was no getting around it.

Covering his fists with one of her hands, she took a deep breath. "We're all going to be there for you, Harry, you know that. By your side, we're in this together. Please, _please _don't forget that."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nodding, but she did not look up. She squeezed his hands gently and felt them relax slightly.

"Has he told you about Nagini?"

Hermione glanced across the vast hall, over the sea of students and teachers, to where Severus was standing before all of them with McGonagall addressing them about what they were going to do.

She nodded, still watching him.

Harry heaved a sigh. "Then you know what I have to do...before I can kill him," not a question, but a statement.

"Someone has to kill her," she breathed quietly, glancing up at Severus again who caught her eye and beckoned her to come over to where he was standing. Nodding, Hermione stood up and faced Harry, reaching her hand out to him. He looked at it for a long time, and then finally took it, allowing her to semi pull him from the table into a stand.

She gave him a small smile and walked with him to the rest of the crowd.

McGonagall placed a hand on Harry's shoulder when he approached, turning on his heel to face all of the people before him, staring up at him, some with determination and courage, others with fear.

"Good," said Severus, continuing where he left off. "You know what you all face out there. We will fight..." he paused, glancing down at Hermione briefly, words seeming to be at a loss, even for him.

Yes, they would fight. They would fight to the death if need be, but what do you say to a hundred or so untrained students, Severus wondered fleetingly.

Clearing his throat, Severus resumed his speech. "There is a snake, she is the Dark Lord's familiar and the last key to allowing him to be mortal and therefore..." he paused again. "Killable."

"If you have a chance at the snake, kill her. Do not hesitate. Her death allows Potter to make his move. Nothing in that blasted prophecy said anything about him not having help."

McGonagall looked somewhat shocked at what he had just commanded, and spoke up. "That is not to say, however, that you should go _looking_ for the snake." She pursed her lips together into a tight line. "She will be at the side of her master, am I correct, Severus?"

He nodded. A few heads turned to look at one another with worried glances. Hermione was sure many of them were still feeling skeptical as to whether they could trust Severus or not. McGonagall had, unfortunately hurriedly, explained all there was to say regarding whose side he was on. She had been terse about it, making sure the point was well taken that he was, in fact, to be trusted. Their lives depended on it for certain.

Despite the fear in their eyes, everyone standing there held a look of determination and readiness. Many were gripping their wands tighter as Severus spoke, listening carefully to every single word.

Everyone's heads suddenly turned to look as there was a crashing sound from near the doors, coming from outside of the castle. Hagrid, who was standing hear the high table, lumbered over to the window and looked outside.

"They're all out there," he said quietly before slowly turning around to face everyone else. "They're waiting."

* * *

The masses were crowding, moving quickly to line up near the castle's doors, waiting for the signal. Harry gave Hermione a final squeeze of the hand before jogging to the very front of the horde of people, taking his place.

Without looking up, Hermione felt Severus move closer to her, standing with barely centimeters between them. In her mind, she forced the tears away; she would not cry, even if she knew what he was going to say, no matter how much it was going to hurt.

"Hermione..." Severus took her hands in his, carefully, delicately; he held them as if they were the most fragile things in the world, as if this was the last time he would ever hold them. "I've learned in my time that in this life, there is no true pain until you look back and realize how much has changed, who you've lost along the way and how much of it was your fault.

"Much of what I have lost during my life has ultimately been my fault, but if today things don't go," he paused, examining his choice of words, "_well_, I will at least know that having you, that loving you put all of that back in place for me. You have given me back a part of me that I didn't know still existed." He gazed down into her eyes, reaching out with one hand to brush a single tear from her cheek. "You found my heart, Hermione, and it is yours. It always has been and will be forever. I love you."

Hermione was speechless, standing there as he leaned down and gently brushed his lips over hers, a simple farewell and a promise all in one. She could say nothing as his hand treaded lightly across her cheek and then was gone.

Turning, rooted to the spot she followed him with her gaze as he strode away and to the castle's doors, ready to meet their fate, robes billowing, just as he would want them to.

She silently vowed that she would not lose him, no matter what it took before she too readied herself to meet whatever was on the other side of those doors.

***

The doors opened almost painfully slow, the sunlight pouring in as they moved. No one moved, barely breathing in the moments they waited for the doors to completely open up to their enemy.

Wand at the ready, Hermione finally breathed out as the sight of hundreds of black-cloaked figures stood before them, unmoving with their wands out before them, ready to strike.

An eternity seemed to pass as both sides watched one another, the only noise being the heavy iron-wrought doors as they stopped moving against the sides of the castle, their final resting place—wide open.

Next to her, Harry moved forward, slowly, making his way to the front of the crowd of students and teachers, finally coming to stand by Severus. The two of them, never taking their eyes off of the Death Eaters before them, stood in silence and waited.

Far in the very back of the mass of Death Eaters, Voldemort could be clearly seen, his twisted smile pronounced, the traitor Wormtail close to his side. On the other side, slithering about his feet was Nagini, the last Horcrux.

Voldemort, never taking his eyes off of Harry, sneered and said in a deadly, calm voice: "Attack."

At the very same time, Harry and Severus both yelled, "NOW!"

And so it began.

Everything erupted around them; curses flew in all directions, the noise level rising to great heights as hundreds of people yelled out spells, defensive and offensive. A few Death Eaters on the front lines dropped to the ground as they were hit with curses, allowing the next in line to come forward, stepping over the fallen as though they were simply part of the earth beneath their feet.

Hermione threw out every curse and defensive spell she knew, one after the other. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered that they were severely outnumbered, and would need help fast or they would never make it.

While she had begun the fight at Harry's side, Hermione realized that they were drifting apart towards separate parts of the grounds. Contemplating this distracted her the slightest bit from her surroundings and in a split second, found herself flying backwards in a spiral, hitting a tree, her back cracking sickly.

As she rolled over, pain shooting through her body, she acknowledged that she had somehow kept hold of her wand. Tears of agonizing pain tried to force their way out, but she held it in, summoning strength from somewhere deep inside of her.

Shaking slightly, she shoved herself up from the ground, starting as a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her the rest of the way. Her startled nerves calmed the slightest bit when she looked up wildly and saw it was Draco. His face was set in a stone hard expression, relentless, but his eyes held the smallest concern and she was glad of his help.

Together they stood and fought, back to back, circling, taking down one Death Eater after the other, neither of them having to speak; all that was heard was the sounds of their wands cutting sharply through the heavy air, the crack of breaking bone and bodies falling to the hard ground.

"We need help!" She heard Draco yell somewhere in between the sounds of crashing debris and bodies. "Where's the bloody Order?"

Hermione couldn't answer, she was too busy throwing jinxes out of her wand at the two Death Eaters in front of them.

"He's still blocking them out," she finally yelled back to him. "They can't get in!"

Draco then suddenly released a very bright wave of magic from his wand, resulting in the now four Death Eaters to fall to the ground. As if it'd been nothing, he turned to Hermione, his face stone hard, just as Harry's had been.

"Then we have to figure out a way to change that. We can't make any more of a stand without them," he said in a low voice, taking her arm. Hermione was panting, she was so out of breath combined with what she thought sickly of as being adrenaline. It disgusted her that she was getting a rush out of killing people.

She shook her head at Draco. "What do you propose we do then, we can't just—" But she stopped, a sudden figure catching her eye as it ran behind them, hunched over low to avoid the spells flying through the air. In an instant, she swung her arm to the side of Draco. "_Stupefy!" _She yelled, heart pounding as her spell found its mark.

"What the..." She heard Draco mutter but ignored it and hurried over to the unconscious figure on the ground. Draco wasn't far behind her and he made a disgusted noise as he joined her where she now stood.

"Wormtail?"

She nodded, not taking her eyes off of the pathetic excuse for a man before her. "He owes Harry his life. He can get the Order in."

Looking up at Draco, she added, "Take him to Harry. Explain and then make sure the Order gets in."

Without another word, she stood then, quickly flicking her wand to reverse Wormtail's comatose state and ran off in search of anyone in need, knowing there were others far worse off than her at the moment.

It didn't take long until she found what she was looking for; unfortunately her stomach fell at the sight of it. Bellatrix Lestrange was slinking out from behind the trees at the edge of the forest, her wand aiming at Neville's back who was dueling with another Death Eater.

Hermione knew, with a sinking feeling, that being so focused he would never hear her until it was far too late. She had to do something, and quickly or she would watch him die.

Without wasting another second, she rushed forward, coming to an abrupt halt about half way to them and sent a curse flying rampagingly from her wand straight at Bellatrix. As it found its mark, both Neville and the other Death Eater were distracted, looking back to where Bellatrix was heaving herself up from the ground.

Hermione quickly glanced to her left, seeing the preoccupied Death Eater and without a thought, took him down with her wand. For a split second, Neville looked to her, eyes wild and confused, quickly changing to understanding and thanks.

He let his guard down a moment too soon, however, for the moment his wand lowered a fraction, Bellatrix laughingly sent a curse flying at him, rendering him unconscious and twitching on the ground. Hermione glared as Bellatrix turned to her with a crooked grin, waving her wand without warning whatsoever.

Hermione was quick though, and dodged it just in time.

"Ah, the little Mudblood wants to duel, does she?" Bellatrix mocked in a singsong voice.

Hermione gripped her wand tighter still, readying herself for whatever was about to come her way. She would not give her enemy the satisfaction of a reply.

She would simply duel.

Suddenly, a great blast could be felt, pushing into all of them, as though it were a giant gust of wind. As Hermione chanced a look across the grounds, her insides leapt at the sight of a very large group of Order members who had all apparated in at once.

Finally.

With a surge of newfound strength at gaining the new advantage, Hermione threw out more spells and hexes than she ever thought being capable of, causing Bellatrix to work even harder, certainly looking as though she did not expect it.

An earsplitting screech stopped both Bellatrix and Hermione mid-curse as they looked up into the sky. Flying above them, blocking out the sun was a gigantic dragon. On top of it...was Ron Weasley.

The Order had brought reinforcements.

Hermione felt a rush of wind as the gigantic animal moved its wings, her hair blowing back forcefully. She jerked her head back to her opponent, who did so at the same time, a snarl planted firmly on her sallow face.

Bellatrix sent another curse at Hermione, which she dodged barely in time. Mustering all of the hate she held within her, Hermione yelled, "_Crucio!_" It found its mark, Bellatrix falling to the ground writhing and screaming in pain. Hermione didn't have time to feel sickened by the fact that she had done that; she knew she wasn't strong enough to hold it for long.

As it broke, Bellatrix started to laugh; a horrible, evil laugh as she began to stagger back to her feet, never once looking away from Hermione who stood panting before her.

"How's Weasley going to take it, Mudblood?" Bellatrix mocked, still trying to catch her breath. "Finding out you're leaving him for a Death Eater?" Her twisted smile was horrible, the color of her teeth showing that her stay in Azkaban had obviously been a long one.

A pain shot through Hermione that had nothing to do with any magical curse Bella could have thrown at her. _Ron,_ she thought. He didn't have any idea. Perhaps he would think she was going to run straight to his arms when this whole thing was over.

How would he react when she didn't, but went to Severus instead? That was, if they all made it out of this alive.

"Hit a nerve, Granger?" Bellatrix laughed again, before casting a silent curse at Hermione, causing her to double over, falling to the ground in excruciating pain.

With all of her might, gasping for breath, Hermione managed to open her eyes through the pain of the curse and aim her wand. The hex she used wasn't much compared to what she'd been hit with, but her opponent staggered backwards, tripping over the motionless body of a Death Eater behind her.

She barely had strength left, but Hermione seized her opportunity and pushed herself up from the ground, clutching her stomach with one arm, pointing her wand downwards at Bellatrix.

When she got close enough, Hermione saw that Bellatrix had a horribly amused look on her sallow face, grinning through the pain she had to feeling. "Go ahead, Mudblood," she mocked. "Come on, kill me. Or don't you have the guts?"

Hermione gripped her wand tighter, not allowing the taunting to get to her. An eternity seemed to pass as she stood there, panting, her wand pointed directly at Bella's cold, empty heart.

Finally, making up her mind, Hermione raised her wand, glaring. With satisfaction, she noticed Bella's eyes widen just the smallest fraction of an inch, but it was enough to see.

"You deserve so much worse than death."

Again, the evil woman's eyes widened, this time visibly as Hermione slashed through the air with her wand. "_Sectumsempra!" _She had seen the old Potions book enough times; she knew what Harry had done to Draco accidentally in sixth year to know exactly what spell she was saying and what it would do.

Bella's piercing scream filled the air as the curse worked just as it was intended, a gaping slash across her chest. With an audible thud, she fell to the ground, writhing and gasping, her blood gushing everywhere.

Hermione could not look away; she was fascinated yet utterly disgusted by what she had done and that alone held her gaze.

Breathing hard, sickly satisfied Hermione turned away from the dying Bellatrix and back to the raging battle around her.

Her sense of triumph grew and faded simultaneously in the next split seconds as with an involuntary gasp, she looked up to see Ron in a straight nosedive on his gigantic dragon heading straight towards Voldemort. His target snarled, turning to the sky and offender, raising his wand with a glare.

Hermione's scream to Ron would have never come soon enough. She felt like a stature as Ron's body fell from the sky like a rag doll. When Draco grabbed hold of her middle to stop her from running to him, it barely felt like the body was her own.

In the very same, horrifying moment, movement up ahead caught her eye and she was forced to pull her eyes away from Ron's twisted form. All in one, fluid moment, one that looked so planned and thought out, Hermione thought it to be surreal, Severus was there. In the very same seconds that his wand killed the snake at her master's feet, Harry roared to life, attacking Voldemort with all the strength he had left in him.

Voldemort emitted a terrible scream, Harry's attack not having done much except to anger him further. Hermione's eyes flickered to Severus who, to her near surprise, had a crooked half-grin on his face—the look of almost triumph.

Without warning, Voldemort produced an incredible blast from his wand, knocking all those close to him to the ground, seemingly unconscious, including Severus.

The Dark Lord's attention, though, was completely focused on Harry now. The two were circling each other, wands out and ready, neither breaking eye contact.

"No one touch him!" Voldemort yelled, his voice ringing spectacularly across the grounds where people of both sides now stood still, waiting, watching. "He's mine!"

Continuing to circle. Voldemort's eyes were filled with malice and hatred, Harry's filled with the same, but with added determination. He would not easily give up this fight.

"You cannot defeat me, Harry Potter! My greatness surpasses yours to incredible heights—just as it surpasses Dumbledore's!" He sneered the name, showing his yellowing teeth surrounded by gray skin, stretched flat against his gums.

Harry did not answer, but continued to move, to watch, waiting for the right moment to strike with intentions of winning.

"You have no one protecting you this time, Potter. And they will all die, once you are gone. You will have saved...no one."

Hermione watched as this time, Harry drew himself to full height, responding to his opponent's taunting bravely. "You don't get it, do you, Riddle?" Voldemort snarled audibly at the name.

"How _dare _you address—"

But Harry just spoke above him, voice rising until he was nearly shouting. "They've all protected me by just fighting this battle. Just as I am protecting them now by finishing you off myself...Just like my mother protected me!" Harry gripped his wand even tighter. Hermione noticed that his knuckles were turning white with the ferocity of which he held on.

"This ends now, Riddle," Harry yelled with the utmost bravery, sounding more to Hermione like a man than he ever had in his entire life.

Voldemort, too, raised his wand higher. "Foolish, stupid little boy," he growled, both wizards readying themselves nearly subconsciously. "Time to say...goodbye."

Harry though, was already raising his wand as Voldemort said these words and suddenly it was very clear that he was going to be caught severely off-guard...and that Harry was going to win.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

Every single person, Death Eater, Order Member, teacher and student watched in horrific fascination as a blinding green light shot quickly and confidently from the end of Harry's wand and came in quick, sound contact with Voldemort's chest.

It was as if everything, every particle in the entire surrounding area ceased to move in that moment. Voldemort seemed to be stunned in a very elongated second and suspended while his eyes, ones that locked with Harry's briefly, lost all life and it was over.

Tom Marvolo Riddle lay lifeless on the hard grounds of Hogwarts.

It took perhaps another minute or so for the shouts of victory to erupt and for people to rush to Harry's side, grabbing him in fierce hugs and holds of congratulations and happiness; it couldn't be more perfect.

Hermione and Ginny were the first to reach him. Hermione jumped at him, flinging her arms around his neck. "You did it, Harry! You did it!" Her shouts were soon drowned out by the masses surrounding them, but she didn't let go. It was all so much—she felt so many emotions at once. Nearly engulfed in the crowd, she looked around for Severus. When he wasn't immediately in sight, she began to feel panic rise into her chest, despite the great jubilation. That good feeling was quickly deflating, as he was still not coming into view.

Just as the worst possibilities were coming to mind, she turned toward the castle and saw him. He was standing near the steps to the Entrance Hall, where he had slain Nagini only minutes ago.

Disengaging herself carefully from Harry and the crowd around them, she started to move in his direction. He didn't move from where he stood. He looked so tired, and his injuries were apparent even from her distance from him, but he was alive. They had both made it out alive.

With this thought, her happiness and the notion that everything would be alright now, she didn't even notice Bellatrix come from no where behind her. "_Mudblood..._" Her voice was hoarse; she was on her last legs, but it harbored a deep determination, and she would not fail. She would not lose this battle.

Hermione had no time to react, no time to reach for her wand which she had unthinkingly stowed back in her pocket, thinking it was all over, not even considering the possibility that once Voldemort was dead his followers wouldn't just simply give up.

Bellatrix fired a spell, maliciously, staggering forward with all of the strength she had left in her wasted body. Everything from that moment moved in slow motion for Hermione. She faintly, distantly, heard people shout her name; she dizzily watched them rush forward towards her and her attacker.

She fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Far off, a shrill scream sounded. Offhandedly, she realized she knew that meant someone has struck the assailant down. She was still conscious as a face appeared above her, Severus' face. Hermione tried to move her hand, to touch him but she couldn't even lift her arm. Every inch of her burned; it felt as though she were on fire. She still was unable to breathe properly.

"Se—" She tried to speak, barely able to croak out just that. Her chest heaved spastically as she forced her lungs to work; they _had_ to work. _Breathe!_ She commanded. _Come on breathe! _He had a hold of her hand; she could feel it, but barely.

"I have—to—tell—you...one more—love—you..."

After that, the shouts, the dizzying sights all drowned out and it everything went dark.


	22. You Win Some, You Lose Some

**A/N: Woo, other side of the cliffhanger...breathe, my dear readers, breathe. Unfortunately, we don't quite have our feet on the ground yet. I know, I'm evil, I'm sorry. *Grins***

**

* * *

  
**

Severus felt her cold hand in his own go suddenly limp as she released her breath in finality. He had no tears, not here. He was far too stunned, for one thing, to even consider breaking down. Not that he would in the first place, of course. For another thing, he was furious, perhaps part of the reaction of what had just happened, not at Hermione or anyone else, but at himself. He silently cursed himself for not protecting her, not even thinking about the Death Eaters that were still alive, around them even as everyone celebrated.

His next coherent thoughts were of the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey, anything that would help her. But then he stopped, remembering a small phial that was in the inner pocket of his robes. It was just an experiment, something he had been toying with for the past year or so. It was supposed to be a serum to cure anything, a universal potion. It wasn't finished, by any means, but it was all there was.

Without further thought, ignoring the small group of her friends rushing over to them, he wrenched the tiny glass bottle from his pocket and carefully poured it into her mouth.

"What happened? What are you doing?!" It was Potter and the Weasley girl who had reached them first; Minerva didn't seem to be too far behind, although he wasn't quite paying attention.

He ignored Potter's frantic questioning, refraining from lashing out as the two of them dropped to the ground next to Hermione's motionless form. There was dead silence for a few golden moments until Potter began bombarding him again.

"Professor! What did you give her...is she—" He stopped. Only then did Severus look up at the boy who looked as terrified as he felt. Against normal circumstances, he was about to speak to explain, or attempt to, when the lifeless body heaved a deep breath.

All of their heads snapped to look at Hermione immediately, Severus feeling the warmest sensation of relief rush through him, engulfing all of him. She was breathing, she was going to be all right; it had worked.

Wildly, Hermione's eyes fluttered open. She looked terrified and confused all at the same time. "Hermione," Ginny breathed, being the closest on her other side. Tears in her eyes, Ginny picked up her friend's hand, smiling. "Thank Merlin. That was so close."

But something was wrong. Hermione's stare was nearly a blank one. She nodded slowly, eyes narrowing questioningly, first looking up at Ginny, then to Harry and finally, she turned her head an inch, looking at Severus, an even more confused look coming onto her face.

"Are you alright?" He asked, uncharacteristically quiet, especially around Potter of all people, but it didn't matter so much to him right then. Hermione began to nod her head, looking confused as ever, but stopped and looked back to Ginny and Harry.

They looked at her curiously, exchanging glances before Harry spoke. "Hermione?" Her eyes flickered to look at him. "Do you—do you know what just happened?" He asked, sounding very cautious as if he was afraid of where this was going.

To all of their horrors, Hermione shook her head quickly, beginning to look even more frightened now. Severus was silent, feeling as though a lead weight had just hit him. The potion had saved her life, looking to have knocked her memory out in the process; she may not remember anything...she would not remember she loved him.

While this new information was beginning to process for all of them, Hermione seemed to have realize that Severus was still holding on to her hand and turned her head slightly, glancing at it with her eyes looking confused a quite frightened all at the same time.

Noticing the movement and the fear in her eyes, Severus too looked down and upon realizing he had hold of her hand, released it abruptly.

Her voice still hoarse and betraying a slight tremble, Hermione began to speak for the first time since waking, but it was barely audible.

"What happened?" She turned her head, once again, to look at Severus. "Who, what—"

"Hermione," said Ginny quietly, carefully. "You don't remember who he is?"

Hermione returned the same look Ginny was giving her, eyes moving back and forth from her to Severus. She shook her head quickly, so confused. "Of course I know him," she said in that same small voice, her tone suggesting Ginny crazy for questioning her. "He's Professor Snape...why wouldn't I know him?"

Severus flinched at the sound of how she'd addressed him, trying to hide it quickly, but not quickly enough. Ginny saw and gave him a confused, yet seemingly sympathetic look, trying to offer some explanation but coming up empty-handed. Hermione was still looking to all of the faces surrounding her, wondering what was happening, what had happened to _her_.

Without another word, Severus seemed to accept what had happened and got up, limping away, needing to seek attention for his injuries...but it could certainly wait. He heard Minerva call after him, but he simply needed to be away from there.

How he cursed himself for not having had mind enough to take out the remaining Death Eaters first, before they could do any damage instead of watching the idiotic celebration around Potter and his victory.

He cursed himself for allowing Hermione to slip away; he should have been able to protect her better, and he had failed. In trying to restore her life he had nearly ruined it. They wouldn't be sure what the extent of her memory loss was until someone was able to ask her some questions, but he knew for certain it went back farther than her hiding in the Headmaster's quarters.

It took him longer than usual to get up to the sanctity of his quarters because of the state the front portion of the castle was in. Debris was everywhere, littering the Great Hall. Enormous chunks of ceiling and stone covered the floor and what he was certain were bodies underneath all of the rubble.

People were standing around everywhere; it seemed like when Potter had forced that sniveling ingrate Wormtail to lift the wards keeping the Order out, even more witches and wizards were able to get in, fighting for the Light also. Thankfully though, he ran into no one on the way to the gargoyle. He could only imagine what those who hadn't seen him kill Nagini, assisting in the Dark Lord's demise, would do were they to see him.

No, it was best to be away from everyone...no matter what the reason. There would soon be a process to go through that would clear his name, he supposed, but that didn't really seem to matter to him, at least not as much as it should have.

He was finally free, this he knew. He no longer served anyone; the war was, all things considered, over. None of this jubilated him, however. He felt empty, emptier than he had ever felt while working as a Double Agent. A part of him felt as though it had been ripped from his body.

He knew it was his heart.

With the only remaining energy he had left, Severus dropped into one of his armchairs near the fire and summoned his bottle of Fire whiskey, not even bothering with a glass. Every single part of him hurt, body, mind, and heart alike and the alcohol wouldn't really make it any better, but it would certainly numb the pain.

Minerva found him an hour later, slumped back in the chair, fast asleep, the bottle of whiskey hanging loosely from his fingertips.

The old witch sighed deeply, watching him momentarily with an expression of the utmost sorrow and, even though she knew he'd despise it, pity. She simply could not believe the cruelty of the fates at moments like this. Here was a man who shut everyone out, never letting a soul get too close, never letting his guard down.

Until now, she thought sadly. And now the source of his happiness barely remembered what was happening around her, let alone that they loved each other.

Everything had just changed, once again.

**

Hermione had felt herself slip out of consciousness once again as she was being carried to the Hospital Wing. When she finally woke for a second time, she seemed to be in a bed and it was dark.

While her eyes began to adjust to the blackness surrounding her, she allowed the functioning part of her mind to wander, although it wasn't much.

What in the world had happened out there, she wondered. She couldn't remember a single thing, even though she knew she should. Where her mind was usually the equivalent of a busy motorway, it now seemed to be reduced to a quiet country dirt road in the middle of nowhere.

She remembered who she was, and that of those around her but what of what had just happened? And why had she been unconscious with everyone crowded around her with such worry?

Worry. People. Professor Snape.

_He was so worried_, she remembered. _How is that even possible? _Shaking her head a bit, she knew it was nearly no use to make sense of anything right now and so with a sigh of resignation, she allowed her eyes to close again, slipping back into sleep.

**

He was brooding in the worst possible way; Severus did not want to be present for this.

"Severus," Minerva said sternly but almost pleadingly, "Hermione is finally coherent enough to tell us what she remembers. Don't you want to see if you can do anything to jog her memory?"

"No."

She gave him an exasperated look, yet she understood in all truth. "You won't at least try, Severus? For Hermione?"

Severus finally spun to face her. "And what do you propose I do Minerva? Tell her everything and have her find me a raging lunatic?"

"Well certainly not, I do not expect you to sweep her into your arms and—"

"Enough, Minerva." Severus shook his head. "I'll be there," he said finally, quietly, turning his back on the old witch once again.

Despite Minerva's protests that he shouldn't, Severus took up the back corner of the infirmary...as far away as possible from everyone else. While they were waiting for the acting Headmistress to arrive, he carefully looked around the room with his eyes.

Potter looked well enough, at least for a boy who'd slain the Dark Lord only two days previous. The circles under his young eyes were nearly as bad as Severus' himself, but he hid his exhaustion well.

Next to him was the Weasley girl, looking far worse off than Potter but trying to hide it as well. _Bloody Gryffindors_, he thought with a mental shake of the head. But he could not blame her or anyone else for that matter for their behavior. They were all equally entitled to fall apart and Ginny Weasley had lost not one brother, but two.

Severus had watched both of them, in fact, fall while fighting with Potter. Bill, an expert dueler in his own right, had been taken off guard by Dolhov within a matter of seconds; no one had seen it coming. _Much like Hermione,_ he thought bitterly.

And Ron Weasley was the reason Severus had had the chance at Nagini at all. Thinking back on the event it all seemed planned; Weasley on the dragon, his own wand commanding the death of the great snake, and finally Potter, taking a strike at the Dark Lord.

He felt remorse for their family; their large, redheaded family and Bill's newly widowed wife Fleur who would never see them again, just like so many others. The worst part was Hermione wouldn't even remember why they were gone.

Discretely, he let his eyes rest on Hermione. She was talking quietly to Potter but not looking at anyone. She simply studied her small hands, which were placed on her lap.

It couldn't help but to feel that burning sensation in his stomach, the one that always appeared whenever he laid eyes on her. Upset with himself, he realized his heart had sped up merely thinking of her and what would never be again.

Thankfully, at the moment he was about to begin cursing his treacherous heart, Minerva walked into the infirmary, deeming the meeting of sorts to begin.

"How are you feeling, Miss Granger?" She asked gently, her eyes flickering to Severus in the corner briefly before taking up the chair on the opposite side of the bed.

Hermione audibly cleared her throat a little before speaking. "I'm feeling better professor," she answered and then got a curious look in her eyes, the one they all knew and associated with her asking questions. Severus would have rolled his eyes had the situation not been so serious.

"What happened to me?"

It was a simple enough question, yet not one person in the room could seem to answer her right away. They all looked to one another and then, to his utmost dismay, they all looked in Severus' direction.

_Idiots,_ he thought. The last thing he wanted was to frighten her, and knowing that he was connected to the reason she could not remember a bloody thing would not help matters at all.

When he only scowled at them all in return, they turned back to Hermione, Madam Pomfrey finally speaking. "What do you remember, dear?"

Hermione was silent for a moment or two, again studying the place where her hands rested on her lap. "I—" She started, struggling even with this. "I remember...the forest..." She said slowly, carefully as if this was potentially not correct at all. "I remember Death Eaters attacking," she paused again and then finally just shook her head. "That's all really."

She looked so defeated. Severus felt a wave of deep remorse run through him. Or was that actually deep love he was feeling?

The rest of the group surrounding her exchanged glances of worry and uneasiness at this news. It was worse than they thought then. Again, eyes jumped in Severus' direction but only Minerva and Poppy's. They were the only two that even knew with the exception of Draco; although Severus was sure Potter suspected it, at least.

Quietly and carefully, all of them, with the exception of Severus, began to explain about the battle and that the Death Eater ambush in the forest had been months ago. Hermione couldn't quite believe her ears. _Months?_ Surely it was only yesterday; it certainly seemed to be that way.

Involuntarily, she felt several tears fall down from her eyes, wiping them away quickly as she listened. At this, Ginny placed a gentle hand on her own, trying to give her at least some comfort. Despite her uneasy feeling, Hermione listened to the rest of what they had to tell her; although, she was getting the distinct feeling they were leaving something out.

Nonetheless, an hour or so later, the professors and mediwitch retreated, leaving only Harry and Ginny with her, for which she was grateful.

"I feel so helpless," she admitted quietly. "I don't know what to do, I can't remember anything."

"Well give it time, Hermione," Ginny soothed. "Madam Pomfrey said that you may very well regain the part of your short term memory that's missing, it just won't be right away."

Hermione nodded, not completely placated, but it would have to do for now. Her two friends announced their departure a little while later, promising to be back after supper. She said goodbye, a little glad for the peace and quiet, but her mind was still reeling. She knew there was much to try and piece together. That in mind, she knew there was little hope of resting and resigned herself to many sleepless nights to come.

**

"What are we going to do, Harry?" Ginny asked quietly as they made their way to the Head's office, as requested earlier by McGonagall.

Harry shook his head, mostly to himself while gripping tighter to Ginny's hand. It seemed neither of them wanted anything more than to be completely conjoined after all that had happened.

"I don't know, I really don't." They stopped walking and he looked at her with sad, tired eyes that reflected his pain, just as hers did.

Ginny placed a gentle hand on his cheek, brushing it in a comforting way before picking up the pace again. "Something just doesn't seem right, Harry. I don't know, it's as if we're missing something. Why would Professor Snape be so concerned? I wasn't even aware he was on our side until the battle."

Harry's body tightened slightly, his feelings about the matter floating to the surface of his mind. Stopping Ginny again, he took a deep breath. She looked at him questioningly as he began to speak.

"I can't know for sure, I mean I wasn't here as long as Hermione had been but," he paused, searching the stone flooring for his words. "I don't know, Ginny, I think they were..." He shook his head more, unable and unwilling to speak the words.

"They were what...Harry?"

He sucked in a deep breath. "I think something was happening between them, something more than friendship," he finally said, not taking his eyes off of the floor beneath his feet.

Ginny was silent for a moment but he could feel her nodding in contemplation. "I thought as much," she finally said, her expression quite calm, causing Harry's head to shoot up to look at her.

"Well," she said at his inquiring expression, "I _saw_ his face, Harry. After the battle, I mean. When Hermione was lying there...and he had her hand, and his _face_...Harry, it was so pained; it was like something had died in his eyes."

Even if he wanted to contemplate the possibility of truth in Ginny's statement, Harry had to first get over how incredibly insightful she was. "You really think so," he muttered, almost reluctantly.

Ginny nodded her head. "It would seem that way. I'm not sure how I feel about that either," she added at Harry's expression. "But if it is true, than we need to figure out whether or not Hermione needs to know."

"Well she's better off not knowing isn't she? Bloody hell," he ran a hand through his unruly hair, "she's gone through more than enough. The last thing she needs is to find out that she's head over heels for the dungeon bat," Harry said forcefully and rushed. Clearly, this was too much for him.

Ginny half-heartedly smiled. "I never said head over heels."

**

Professor McGonagall, who had taken over duties of Head of the school (mostly for Severus' safety), was seated at the large desk when Ginny, Harry, Neville, and Draco arrived.

The four of them took up chairs surrounding the front of the desk, Neville and Ginny separating Harry and Draco who shot glares at one another when they had the chance.

"Professor?" Harry spoke first and waited for McGonagall to look up at him before he began to speak again. "We were wondering, that is...well, I hoped you could tell us...what you knew about...well, Hermione's, erm, relationship with Snape..."

The last sentence hung in awkward silence as McGonagall surveyed Harry carefully. "Why is it you ask, Mr. Potter," she said, quite reservedly.

Harry looked sideways at Ginny before opening his mouth to speak. Ginny, however, beat him to it. "It's just that, well like I said to Harry...I saw Professor Snape's face before and after he gave her that potion. It was in his eyes—it wasn't just concern for the life of his student, it was as if he..." She too trailed off, unsure of how to put into words what she wished to say.

"Loved her?"

Everyone's head turned in Draco's direction. Draco himself had his head bowed, eyes on his lap, speaking in an uncharacteristically subdued voice.

"But that's not possible!" Harry suddenly turned back to McGonagall whose lips were in a thin line, still watching Draco who was now nodding slowly, as if to himself.

Surprised, Harry looked quickly to Draco and back to McGonagall, pausing briefly to look at Ginny who was calmer than he, yet just as equally surprised. "It—professor, it's not, is it?"

Without looking away from Draco, she answered him. "Yes, Mr. Potter, although it is none of our businesses, I do believe that Mr. Malfoy would have the correct assumption regarding Severus' feelings toward Miss Granger." She paused. "And that is was...quite returned."

The old witch looked at Harry with these words, one eyebrow raised as if expecting him to fly off the handle. He probably would have, had he not been so utterly shocked.

It didn't, however, take him long to regain normal thought process. "And you knew about this, Malfoy?" He glared around Ginny and Neville at his childhood enemy. Draco started to straighten himself in his seat to answer, but someone else spoke up.

"I knew too," came Neville's quiet voice. Harry's head snapped from Draco to Neville in an instant.

"Neville?" Harry looked almost scandalized towards his friend. Ginny remained silent, listening, while carefully placing a hand on Harry's knee to remind him of his surroundings.

"Let's not forget the more pressing matter at hand, Mr. Potter, shall we?" McGonagall looked over the top of her spectacles sternly at Harry. "Poppy informs me that Hermione may or may not regain her memories due to a reaction caused by the curse Bellatrix used and the potion she drank."

She looked at all of them in turn with the same stare that she had just given Harry. "What I believe needs to be agreed upon, is whether or not the events over the course of the last few months are revealed to Hermione or not."

"Meaning what has happened since she's been here?" Ginny asked, looking to Harry who was fixing the edge of the desk with a contemplative stare, then back to McGonagall.

Everyone was silent, only their pensive breathing making noise within the room.

Finally, with a deep breath, Harry said, "I don't think we should." He sounded concrete and resolute in his words, yet his eyes betrayed him.

He was torn, not wishing to see his best friend suffer by not remembering anything, yet at the very same time Harry didn't hope for her to go insane with information overload either.

"I only think we shouldn't be forcing them to resurface, that's all," Harry added quickly. He knew how his statement sounded otherwise.

As McGonagall asked if this was of mutual consent, Harry resolutely nodded his head while Ginny nodded once, and so did Neville...reluctantly. Draco simply barely raised his shoulders in a shrug, still having not looked up.

"Very well then," McGonagall concluded. "We will allow Hermione's memories to come back of their own accord." Once again, she surveyed them all, pausing a while before dismissing them.

"Neville," said Harry as they descended the stairs from the Head's office, "is it really true, what you said about Hermione up there?" Neville didn't answer right away.

"Of course he was serious—"

"I don't recall asking your opinion, _Malfoy."_ Harry rounded on Draco as he spoke.

"Well you should," Neville shot his head up bravely at Harry, his expression strong. "He was there too...and he helped save Hermione's life," he said vehemently.

Harry nearly gaped at first Neville, his eyes shooting to Draco in spurts. Finally, he found his voice. "So you're saying she loves him then? Hermione...loves...Snape?"

Draco sighed with mock exasperation. "Where in the last 15 minutes did you _not_ understand that bit of information, Potter?" He sneered in Harry's direction.

Harry's wand hand twitched, but Ginny placed a hand on his arm to settle him. "Don't," she murmured quietly. Calmly, she turned to Draco. "I don't know what you did to help her, or even the extent of what's happened to her since she's been here, but thank you, Draco," she said sincerely.

If Draco was surprised at her genuine thanks, he hid it well, going back to scowling within seconds. Harry muttered a "yeah, thanks," not quite meeting his eyes, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

Silence stretched once again between the four of them before Neville spoke, his voice more subdued than before. "So we're not going to tell her...anything," he said, almost unwilling to believe it was the best solution.

Harry shrugged. "I don't really like it either, but I don't think she needs a whole six months worth of heavy information dumped on her at once. Maybe, if she doesn't remember after a long time, we'll tell her eventually. For now though, we should let her try and remember for herself."

**

Somewhere, far off, she could feel a hand holding gently to her own with the most reserved of carefulness. She was in that place where dreams, though able to be acknowledged as a near hallucination, were still real; it was a place, the gap between waking and sleep where she was held, captivated by a faceless figure representing the purest and most cherished love.

As if by some force unseen, Hermione's eyes opened suddenly, sitting up instantly and looking wildly through the piercing dark, having the distinct sensation someone had just been right next to her, but no one was in sight.

Shaking her head she glanced down at her own hand, the one that was lying palm up next to her on the hospital bed. It felt...warm, tingling, like someone had just touched it, held on to it.

_How strange,_ she thought, examining her limb without moving it from where it sat. Slowly, she commanded the fingers to move, as if only to make sure it was truly her hand, that she was the one with the power to make it move.

Her skin tingled with a feeling that she could not decipher. It was unfamiliar to her, yet at the very same time so completely real, like she remembered it from someplace else she had been, seen, or felt before.

Coming out of her thoughts, Hermione shook her head. "It was only a dream," she whispered to herself, finally looking away from her hand and settling back down to fall asleep once more.


	23. New Information

A/N: Yup. You all want to murder me. I get it. Over a year...that's legit reasoning for deep, passionate hate. I have no excuse for you except for I just really got out of touch with this story. I hope you are not so disappointed that you gave up on me. I'm still here...slowly, but surely. :) Thanks for sticking with me.

* * *

Days had passed since the Final Battle that Hermione still knew little about.

The dead were honored and buried on the Hogwarts grounds near Dumbledore's grave. The ceremony had been a blur for Hermione who was still trying to get over the fact that one of her best friends was gone and she barely remembered the cause of his death.

Harry was very quiet. He had only wanted to retreat to his rooms and be alone; of course there was so much to be done that this was nearly impossible. No one pushed him; no one pushed any of them really. In fact, people were near as reluctant to bother Hermione as Harry. She had withdrawn, so completely unsure of her own surroundings; it was unnerving to Hermione, even.

She still retained that vague memory of the forest, and Death Eaters surrounding them, throwing curses and jinxes while trying to take them down. It was so unclear though, she wasn't sure if she had dreamed it or not.

That was another thing that was strange to Hermione; her dreams lately had been so utterly peculiar, seeming so incredibly real to her that when she woke from them it took several moments to recall that she had, in fact, been dreaming in the first place.

At first, they had been simply confusing. Then, they had started to get repetitive. Most of them were of a faceless figure, a man more specifically, who was there in brief flashes but then disappeared again. It positively hurt her brain to try and unscramble the mess it was currently in, and these dreams certainly weren't lessening the stress any.

Hermione also knew something was off with her near-death experience. She had not only found it odd that Professor Snape been at her side when she opened her eyes, but he had seemed...genuinely _concerned_. It baffled her completely, and something was not right—she could feel it.

And yet everyone seemed to know something she did not, and they didn't appear to want to say anything about it. They just seemed happy that she had been able to pull through and hadn't been lost, like many others.

The days after the memorials and funerals were winding down time was spent simply rebuilding lives, not to mention the castle, which was going to take a lot of time to do. The Great Hall was completely demolished; stone and granite littered the ground, spilling out onto the grounds. Doors were completely torn off their hinges; windows were shattered, the little glass pieces glistening in the sunlight.

What could have been hundreds of witches and wizards stayed on the grounds, trying to help rebuild the historic castle that had tried to stand strong during the course of the war. It had protected its inhabitants and held a strong fortress for a good duration of the Final Battle and it only felt right to many to make sure it remained that way.

Hermione had taken to seeking refuge from her confusion in the library. It was somewhere familiar, and the books certainly weren't adding to her stress. In fact, they calmed her, made feel the way she knew she should. On the other hand, it seemed that no matter how hard she tried to immerse herself in the familiarity of her books there was still a glaring void that could not be filled. Something was missing, but Hermione was at a complete loss as to what that 'something' could be.

Or was it a 'someone'?

She shook her head of that; the masked being in her dreams was simply that: a dream, a figment of her imagination. It was nothing of consequence, nothing that would help her decipher the reasoning for her missing memory.

Her friends seemed to be the most skittish, the most reluctant to bring up what had transpired. Even stranger, was the fact that Neville and Draco Malfoy were being quite civil with one another. Malfoy himself had even been acting strangely toward her.

He found her one day in the library, curled up in a corner by the window, an ancient-looking tome resting in her lap while her attention was otherwise directed outside at the dark grey storm clouds forming in the distance.

"You're not going to find your memories out there, Granger," he said, causing her to jump slightly. She did not look at him though. Instead she only calmed and looked back to where her eyes rested previously.

"What do you want?" Her voice was tired, bored-sounding, like she just wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

Draco didn't answer; instead he leaned up against the opposite bookshelf and folded his arms across his chest, studying her. "You can't hide in here forever, you know," he stated matter-of-factly, ignoring her obvious, unspoken wish for him to leave.

Hermione glared at him. "And what would you know, Malfoy?" Then she simply deflated with a sigh, turning back to the brewing storm. "Just go away."

"I know your so-called _friends_ consented to just let those memories of yours come back on their own," he stated plainly, but with a bite.

Shaking her head, still not looking away from the window, Hermione found herself slightly confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that potion you ingested; it tampered with your memory and Potter decided life would be easier if they didn't tell you anything, if they just let the memories come back by themselves."

"They _lied_ to you, Granger," he said and she cast him a loathsome glare.

"They wouldn't do that," she defended.

Draco sneered and got up close to her, close enough so she barely had to turn her head to look him in the eye. "Then why haven't they told you the reason you can't remember anything, hmm?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but found she didn't know what to say. Had they really been hiding information from her? Draco watched her for a few seconds as she processed the information, her eyes jerking restlessly between his own, searching.

And then his words, belatedly, hit her. "What potion?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

He smirked and took a step back, crossing his skinny arms over his chest, surveying her. "Snape's potion," he answered after a while and a cloud of confusion passed over Hermione's face. "They didn't tell you?"

She could only shake her head.

"You told her _what_, Malfoy?"

Harry was livid; Ginny placed her always-calming hand on his arm which was flexed and tensed to its fullest ability. "I thought we agreed to allow those…_memories_ to come back on their own," Harry said through a clenched jaw.

Draco glared at him. "No, Potter. _You _agreed. I wanted nothing to do with this bullocks of a situation, remember? You're supposed to be her friends; you're just lying to her."

"Better than letting that greasy git at her!" Harry snapped back, gripping his wand tighter in his fist.

"That git saved her life, Potter," Draco snarled, but unlike Harry held his ground. He too clenched his wand, but kept it out of sight in his pocket. He wouldn't fight Potter…not yet, anyways.

Ginny didn't remove her hand from Harry's arm, but addressed Draco with a visibly-forced calmness. "You had no right to say that to her you know." Draco rolled his eyes, but Ginny ignored it. "No, Draco, I'm serious. What if she suddenly remembers and is so…disturbed with the notion that she, I don't even know what. What if she puts herself into an even worse state than she's in now? I heard Madam Pomfrey talking about it: Hermione could throw herself into even worse lapse of memory, that is, if she tries to block everything out once she knows the truth."

Even Harry relaxed somewhat and removed his gaze from his sworn enemy to look at Ginny as she finished her little speech. Clearly, neither of them had known this information. "Are you sure, Gin?" Harry asked in a low voice. "That's what she said?" He lowered his arm and Ginny released her hold on it, nodding a few times.

"And what is it that makes you so certain that this will occur?" Draco asked after a while. "Are your minds really that incapable of grasping the idea that she could love someone like him?"

The other two cringed at the statement and exchanged an uneasy glance, telling Draco all he needed to know. "That's what I thought," he sneered.

_Snape's potion._

Malfoy's words rang in Hermione's ears as she paced back and forth next to her four-poster. She was alone. Ginny and Harry were off somewhere together; Hermione never knew where but Ginny didn't come back until the wee hours of the morning these days, if at all. _Just as well_, Hermione thought. She always rather preferred complete silence when she was working on something particularly challenging.

When her friends were around, Hermione had nothing but questions. Sometimes, they were eager to answer. Other times, however, they seemed somewhat reluctant.

Hermione wanted answers.

Ok, what else was knew? But she was sickeningly desperate at the moment. She knew, at the moment, she would do almost anything to solve the puzzle in her nearly-blank mind. Malfoy had mentioned something about a potion…Snape's potion. She assumed this could only be in reference to what was supposedly given to her on the post-final battle scene, but the idea that Snape had given it to her was strange enough in itself.

Pacing only did her so much good before it was counterproductive.

The first lights of dawn were peeking over the mountains when Hermione decided that the answers she needed would only come from the source itself.

She would have to go talk to Professor Snape.

She concluded that she would simply waltz down there to the dungeons and demand and explanation. _Ha!_ She thought. _Demand and expect answers out of Severus Snape? May as well have asked Voldemort to afternoon tea…when he was still alive,_ she added with an internal shrug, still slightly disconcerted that she couldn't even remember the Dark Lord's final moment.

Nevertheless, Hermione felt that if she truly wished for her questions to be answered she was going to have to be demanding. If no one would clue her in to her own memories, she'd have to press as hard as she could for them to come back on their own terms. And so it was, on a now-strangely quiet and subdued afternoon in the castle, Hermione made the trek down the familiar stone steps that lead to the depths of Hogwarts—where she hoped her answers were hiding away in the form of a tall and always-brooding potions master.

She found the door to the potions classroom ajar, the undeniable stench of brewing potions hitting her square in the face. It smelled distinctly of Wolfsbane and Skele-grow, although with the scents mixed together, she couldn't be one hundred percent certain. She took two steps into the open doorway and knocked on the heavy oak door to announce her arrival. Professor Snape was in the very back of the room, bent over a cauldron; five more with Stasis charms stood nearby.

"Enter." His voice was gruff but he didn't raise it as Hermione was accustomed to. He also didn't turn around to face her, and so she simply stood in the center of the room and waited as calmly as she could until he was finished.

"What is it, Miss Granger?" He asked, his voice flat and bored. Still, he kept his back turned. Hermione didn't really have time to dwell on how he knew who he was addressing without turning around.

She took a deep breath. "I had a question…"

"_Naturally,_" he drawled in the same voice.

Hermione decided to ignore the comment. She realized that if she wanted him to be honest with her, she couldn't allow him to push her around, or make her feel like a stupid child. "I need to know about the potion I was given, Professor." The muscles in his shoulders tightened ever-so-slightly. "After the battle. Please, I have to know if there is anything that can be done to counter it, or help my memories come back or…_something_."

_Anything,_ she thought.

Finally, slowly, Severus faced her. He studied her for a moment, and she was becoming slightly uncomfortable under his intense gaze when he finally spoke to her. "And what is it, Miss Granger, that makes you think I would know anything about what you ingested on the battle field?" He fixed her with one raised eyebrow.

_Oh, never mind the fact that I awoke to you holding my hand,_ she thought exasperatedly. "Malfoy," she said. "He told me it was your potion." She didn't let her voice betray her with uncertainty.

Severus set his face in a glare—one that was reserved for sending the dunderhead first years into crying hysterics. But Hermione wouldn't falter.

Finally, he seemed to make up his mind about something. "The potion," he said slowly, "was designed to act with the obvious opposite effect of the Draught of the Living Dead. More specifically, its intent was to counter the effects of the killing curse."

Hermione's eyes widened slightly.

"As it happens," he sighed, "I have…thought through the possibility of a potion to restore your memory without, obviously, counter-acting the first potion's original intent."

"So you'll be brewing it soon?" It was almost too much to hope for.

"No, Miss Granger. The potion itself—the idea of it, if you will, still requires a fair amount of research, not to mention rare ingredient collecting." He raised his eyebrow again at her as she opened her mouth to speak. "I would assume you are not in favor of such a potion being rushed, therefore perhaps reeking even worse havoc than the first?"

She shook her head. "Of course not, Professor. But if this is a possibility, I would like to be able to assist in the research, that is, if…"

"No."

She furrowed her brow at him and how quick he was to dismiss the idea, trying to make sure her temper didn't boil over on her.

"Not that I owe you an explanation, Miss Granger, but I fail to see any point in your being involved with the research of something that may not even be possible," he sneered at her.

That did it.

"_Not owe me an explanation?_" She said, her pent-up anger finally exploding. "You owe me every explanation in the world! You fed me that potion, that…experiment! How dare you tell me not to be involved! It's _my_ memories that need restoring," she fumed. "Don't tell me this isn't my concern, Severus!"

Hermione clamped her mouth shut instantly. She braced herself for his raging outburst at her impertinence, but it never came. A strange look passed over his harsh features, one that was neither furious nor even shock. If she wasn't so astonished at herself, she would have fully registered that hope had flickered through his eyes for a few split seconds.

"Um...Professor, I'm…I'm sorry," she stumbled through her words, shaking her head. "I didn't…I should go." She didn't give him time to respond to her mutterings before she turned and was walking out of the dungeon, taking the stone steps two at a time. _That was strange,_ she thought as she slowed her pace once she had put at least three floors between her and the potions classroom. It was disconcerting, to Hermione, that what she had just done had felt _normal._ It was as if part of her memory had jumped back for an instant and then was gone again. She didn't know how else to explain it.

Then again, when would she ever have been in a position to gain permission to call Professor Snape by his name?

She began pacing. The window she passed by again and again looked out onto the sun-streaked lawn, where most of the battle had taken place. Various witches and wizards were out there, all helping along the process of putting the castle back in order.

"This is ridiculous," she mumbled to herself. She sat down on a bench in the corridor and sighed. "Well that was a waste, Granger," she admonished herself. "That was a sure-fire way to convince him to let you work on that potion."

At the same moment the sound of swift footfalls came to her ears and she turned just as Professor Snape was making his last few strides towards her. When he came to a stop—a good nine or ten feet away from her, she noticed—she slowly stood up, not daring to speak; surely her outburst had finally caught up with him. She breathed in, bracing herself for whatever he was about to hurl at her when he spoke:

"Miss Granger. We begin tomorrow. 9 am _sharp. _I trust you won't be late?"

Hermione could only look at him, mouth slightly open, and shake her head. But he didn't see it, for he was already sweeping away from her down the corridor and out of sight.


End file.
